Their Twisted Alliance
by I-Write-Terrible-Stories
Summary: Mara moved on. She pushed it all to the back of her mind. She had been saved. And she arrived just in time to be caught in something bigger than she could have ever imagined. Something that would change everything forever. -SEQUEL TO 'HER TWISTED TALE'- [***SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA IF YOU ARE NOT UP TO DATE***]
1. Adventures After Death

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**For those of you who are new, this is a SEQUEL TO ANOTHER STORY by the name of Her Twisted Tale. You should probably read that before this so you're not hella confused.**

**For those returning to me, did you miss me? I'm sorry for taking so long. Things are hectic and I've been trying to figure this fic out from the title to the plot. IT'S BEEN CRAZY!**

**So, please enjoy chapter one. Totally not sure when I'll update again, but hopefully it'll be soon~!**

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**Chapter One**

"_To the well-organized mind, death is but the next adventure."_

They were the words that I heard many years ago from a man in a cemetery on an island on the Grand Line, and they were the words that gave me the most hope all this time, for reasons that I was unable to put into words. It had been so long since I had been announced dead to the world that I began to truly see myself as a dead woman, despite the fact that I was actually alive and as well as I could get. Two years in that place, and you would begin to lose hope as well, no matter how strong or stable you were.

And then that day came. That day that involved a raid on the building that had been my hell house for the past two years. A group of pirates came in, brandishing weapons and demanding riches and any food or water they had available. I can remember looking up through the bars of the cell, raising my eyebrows in surprise and trying to look around the corner in the general direction that the voices were coming from. Of course, I couldn't see anything, so I waited, tilting my head back and to the side, watching desperately for some movement of someone coming around the corner.

It didn't take long for that to happen. After a moment, a figure stepped into my field of vision, carrying a very large sword that seemed impossibly heavy for someone so tiny to wield. I watched with sudden apprehension as this person strutted across the span of the cells bars, lifting this large sword and cutting down the guard who was in the middle of aiming a gun at the person. I watched with a startlingly sick satisfaction as the guard fell heavily with a cry of agony, dying as he hit the floor, his blood splattering up at the impact.

Without thinking of what would happen if I did, I brought my hands in front of me and clapped. The chains around my wrists jangled with every clap, loud in the eerily silent corridor, my claps ringing out just as loud. The person froze and turned their gaze to me, stopping in their tracks and cocking their head to the side. I wished I could have seen the face of the person, in hopes that maybe I would recognize them from a Wanted poster of some sort, but the horrible lighting provided by sparse torches only allowed me to see their silhouette.

"Who are you?" The voice called out. In that moment, I realized two things about this person. One was that they were most definitely male, which was accentuated when they turned to fully face me and I saw the broadness of his shoulders. Second, the dim lighting worked both ways, meaning he couldn't see me either. "What are you doing here?" The man demanded almost immediately after his first question hardly giving me time to answer.

I waited a moment to make sure he wouldn't fire off another question, then gave him a deadpanned expression. "What does it look like I'm doing here?"

The twitch of his shoulders and they straightening of his back were subtle, but noticeable. "Alright, you're a prisoner. So who the hell are you then?"

"Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first when talking to a lady?"

Sure, I wasn't exactly in an ideal position to be having a casual conversation while still chained up in the cell and he obviously had no problem killing people, but if being sarcastic and witty was the only was the only way to retain some normalcy, then I would do it. It hadn't stopped me for the majority of my time here, so why stop now?

This man stepped forward, and I got a surge of fear and excitement, but before his face could enter the light provided by one of the torches, a loud yell came from the left. We both looked to the source, though from his position, he could see whoever it was much better than I could. I looked back to his face just in time to see a flash of white that was his teeth before he lunged out of sight beyond the cell bars.

Horrible sound of flesh being cut and pained screams filled the corridor, so loud and sudden that I jerked and almost brought my hands to cover my ears. Bodies violently slamming onto the floor in such quick succession that I couldn't count them all. By the time the silence came once again, I knew for sure that there were fourteen bodies that thumped to the concrete. All in the span of thirty seconds.

Maybe messing with this guy wasn't the greatest idea at the moment.

He came back into sight as soon as this thought crossed my mind. I was distracted by the droplets of blood that dripped from his sword into the pool of light from the lantern, mesmerized, before looking back to his face. The whiteness of his teeth were visible as he grinned, stepping forward slowly into the light while speaking.

"My name is Forrester Alvin, the First Mate of the Raze Pirates. I am the man who will make my captain the greatest pirate to ever." As he stepped into the light, I caught a better look at his face. Honestly, he was quite handsome, and didn't have the face of a killer that I was expecting. His hair was a chestnut color, a little lighter than my own hair color, and his eyes were a piercing green. His features as well were quite soft, looking more like a lover than a fighter. However, the blood splattered against his cheeks, forehead, and neck were giving him the feel of a hardened criminal.

And then he looked awestruck.

See, as he stepped forward, he grabbed the torch and shone the light into the cell, allowing my face to also be revealed to him. I simply stared at him while he sputtered and pointed, clutching his free hand to his head and looking around, asking if anyone else was seeing this. I was honestly confused as to why he was acting this way, and then it struck me. I was supposed to be dead, and I clearly wasn't. I'm sure that's enough to make anyone freak out.

"You're Panther D. Mara! Mara The Devil!" I nodded slowly while he yelled, eyes bugging out his head and hand gripping his hair. I waited, shifting to rest my back against the wall better and more comfortably. It took all of three minutes for him to calm down enough to clear his throat and speak properly. "It's a shock that you're not dead."

I nodded again, pursing my lips. "Yeah, I was pretty surprised too."

He gnawed on his lip and looked away from me, towards the left, where he had fought off whoever had been coming up earlier. I watched with a sense of doom as he sighed. "I'll be back."

The urge to say something witty was strong, but I only nodded, though he didn't see as he was already leaving, taking the only source of light with him and leaving me in near darkness. I sighed and tilted my head back once again, staring up at the ceiling, barely able to make out the cracks in the concrete. My hands brushed against the the floor, feeling the small pebbles and cracks that I had become familiar with.

Ten minutes passed in relative silence. The sounds of fighting upstairs died down slowly, and I wondered if perhaps this Alvin guy wouldn't come back and I would be alone to my own devices, unable to get out of here and die since everyone else seemed to be getting killed. A part of me wished that he would have just killed me while he was down here, saving me from the suffering of starvation and loneliness. I was kind of pissed that he didn't.

Approaching footsteps brought my eyes to the left of the cell bars, watching the growing light that could have only been coming from a torch. I swallowed thickly. What if this was the guards and they had killed Alvin and whoever he came with? I mean, I was mad at him, but I would rather it be him coming back than the guards and people who worked here.

Three people stepped into my line of sight and I sagged my shoulders in relief, a movement that didn't get passed Alvin as he grinned and leaned closer to the bars.

"You missed me already? I'll take that as a compliment!"

If I hadn't been so transfixed on the woman beside him, I would have rolled my eyes. She was smaller than him, only reaching his shoulder-probably the same height as me. Though it wasn't her height that drew my undivided attention to her. It was, instead, the sheer power and authority that seemed to ooze out of her naturally. She commanded attention, and I don't think she did it on purpose. She seemed aged beyond her years, her aura showing that she'd seen too much of the world already while he physical appearance hinted that she couldn't have been much older than myself. Scars littered her face from hairline to cleavage, more than likely disappearing under the blouse she wore.

Her eyes held mine for the longest of moments, azure meeting brown in a moment of tension. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion and something else that I couldn't identify. I watched calmly, keeping my face neutral so as not to make things any worse for myself. I had been prisoner for these assholes for too long, and I didn't want to be prisoner to a group of pirates next.

The tension drained away and she leaned back, giving a sharp laugh and flipping her short hair out of her eyes, the pixie cut looking quite endearing on the woman.

"I have to tell you, when Al here came and said that _the _Panther D. Mara was down here, I didn't believe him." I looked from her to Alvin, who rolled his eyes at the woman's antics and smiled, making him look younger. "Then coming down here and seeing you! Oh it's almost too much!" She laughed some more, bringing her hands up and wiping at the tears in her eyes, revealing the hook that was her left hand. It had to be the only cliche pirate thing that I had seen in a long time, and I almost wanted to laugh alongside her.

Alvin sighed heavily and brought his hand down on the woman's shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak, but as he did, a small figure jumped onto his back. I tensed up and worried that this was an enemy and that he would be killed, but when he lifted the torch and yelled at the figure, I was proven wrong.

"Dammit, Minnie! Get off of me, will ya?" He shook around and bucked his shoulders, trying to get to small girl to let go of him, but failed. She held tight and laughed, sounding childlike in nature. I came to the conclusion that she was a very young girl, hardly a woman. Her large eyes were rounded with childhood and her hair bounced around her shoulders in black tresses, looking like ink as she was swung back and forth by the man she jumped on. "Can't you see we're doing business?"

She laughed even harder, dodging his fist with ease and blowing a raspberry in his face, spit flying over his cheeks and nose. He stopped moving altogether and brought his hand up to slowly wipe the spit away, the dark aura coming from him being ignored as the small girl turned her dark eyes to me.

"You are so cool! I remember seeing you in the paper a few years ago after the war!" I gave an awkward smile, unsure of how to respond to her. The small girl, Minnie, turned to the other woman, who was now serious and analyzing me. "Captain, we should bring her with us! We have to get her out of here!"

Their Captain put a finger to her chin and turned her head to the side, glancing at me from head to toe. I wasn't getting my hopes up. These people were pirates. I was a pirate. It was more likely that they would want to fight and kill me than to help me. They would probably turn me in to the Marines in hopes of getting in their good graces, if this Captain woman wanted to be a Shichibukai.

That tension returned for only a brief moment before the woman grinned and leaned her head closer to the bars. "We will help you, Devil." My own eyes widened in shock while hers squinted from the force of her grin. "It will be for a price, however. Alvin, get her out. Minnie, come along."

The Captain woman grabbed the back of the small girl's shirt and dragged her from the swordsman, giving her orders as they walked away that were muffled by the walls. I looked back to Alvin and felt my heart flutter with relief when he opened the door with the keys he obtained from the body of the guard. He approached quickly and knelt down on one knee, pressing the key into the lock of the chains and slipping them from my wrists first.

"I still can't believe it's you." I watched the top of his head while he unchained my waist. "I mean, it did seem weird that you would die from something as stupid as that after surviving the War and taking down Akainu, but the paper made it pretty convincing." He moved to my ankles, looking up and smiling. "It's pretty cool that you're alive though."

My lips stretched into a smile and I nodded. "Yeah, I think so too."

He stood and reached his hand out for me to take, which I gladly did, being hoisted to my feet with little effort and lead from the cell to see what the corridor looked like now. It pretty much looked how I expected. There were numerous dead bodies lying about, in the way to the point where we had to carefully step over them and avoid slipping on the blood, all the while my arm being held to ensure that I wouldn't fall over. He seemed to notice that I wasn't all too steady on my feet at the moment.

Going up the stairs was a challenged in itself. Alvin offered several times to just carry me, but the little bit of pride that I had caused me to assure him that I could do it. My legs were just asleep and lacking blood from being in a seated position for so long. I just needed a moment to get right again.

On the top floor, Alvin lead me to the exit, stopping to look at the fallen bodies around the room. He zoned in on specific people, anger in his eyes and his arm tightening painfully on my arm. I ignored that and focused on the pendant resting on his neck of a Jolly Roger that I assumed was the insignia for the crew he was on. I looked back to the bodies and spotted the same Jolly Roger on them in various forms. Some had tattoos. Some had pendants. Some wore clothes with it sewn on the front.

It was all too obvious that they were his crewmates, and they were dead now.

"Ya know," I began as he started for the door again, bringing his eyes to look down at me questioningly. "Someone once told me that, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next adventure."

Alvin chuckled at that and helped me up the ramp to their ship, a large vessel that seemed almost as big as the Moby Dick. "That's some solid wisdom you got there, Devil. Who would have thought that you were badass and wise?"

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**[A/N]: Did ya like? By the way, that quote in the beginning and the one that Mara repeats at the end is definitely a quote from J.K. Rowling, so I do not take credit for that. Please lemme know what you think of this first chapter and how excited you are for more! I'm working hard, but I'll be starting school soon, so I don't know when I'll be able to pump more out. As long as you all don't abandon me and this fic, I won't abandon you!**

**Love you all and see you soon~!**

**XoXoXoXoXo**


	2. The Deal

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**Enjoy~**

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**Chapter Two**

Brunt "The Raze" Hazel wasn't a bad woman, as her appearance heavily suggested. She was strict, yes, but that was to be expected by someone who managed a crew of nearly fifty and tried her hardest to keep them alive. She had an aura similar to that of Pops in the sense that she was incredibly strong and emotionally stable.

After being taken to the ship, Alvin, acting on the orders of Captain Hazel, brought me to the infirmary, where a full check-up was performed in the large white room. I was bandaged where I needed to be bandaged, and stitched where I needed to be stitched by the doctor of the ship, Lusto Otto, a kind old man whose face was nearly completely hidden behind a scruffy red beard. He asked questions that any doctor would ask, and did what he had to do in the room, leaving me naked while he examined everything. Thankfully, he ordered Alvin out before he ordered me to take my clothes off.

Soon after I put on some borrowed clothes, something that seemed to happen every time I was invited onto another person's ship, the door swung open and Alvin marched over, grabbing my arms. He held them with his one hand and dragged me from the room, using enough force to convince me that fighting back would only cause trouble. I did no such thing however, because I wasn't dumb. I didn't know the layout of the ship, so I would most likely get lost before even coming close to getting away. Also, I was curious about what Brunt Hazel had in store for me.

And I found myself now in a chair, hands tied behind my back and a band of sea stone wrapped securely around my ankle. I lifted my leg and eyed the cuff warily, but said nothing about it. These people apparently knew a lot about me and what I should have been able to do if they didn't take the necessary precautions.

The Captain and her first mate stood side by side, the latter towering over the smaller woman. It should have appeared menacing, if I hadn't noticed that he stood slightly in front of her, protecting her from any attacks that I would throw at them.

I smirked and looked between the two. "Is all of this really necessary?" I asked, cocking my head to the side and flicking my gaze to the door, which had opened and allowed two more figures to step in. "I'm not really in a position to put up a fight."

Hazel grinned and nodded. With better lighting, I noticed that the scars covering her face and chest were worse than I had originally thought. In the dimness of the torch light down in the corridor, they appeared to be thinner marks, barely disfiguring her beauty. However, I now saw them for what they truly were, horrible, thick, jagged marks that morphed the corner of her right eye and caused the flesh to pucker all over. My small scar paled in comparison to hers.

"I'm no fool, Devil. I underestimated one of your Worst Generation before, and it cost me too much." Alvin and the two newcomers all flicked their eyes to her hook, and I raised my eyebrows, intrigued by who she had met from the Worst Generation. From what I understood, that was the name for the Eleven Supernova from two years ago. "That damn red headed Devil Fruit user. Stupid metal bastard."

_Red headed Devil Fruit user…? Metal?_

My eyes widened in recognition and I looked to her hook before meeting her eyes again. "Oh my gosh, Kidd cut off your hand!" The glare I received was the only answer I needed. I pursed my lips and thought back to my own encounters with Eustass Kidd. "He asked you to sleep with him first, didn't he?"

She scowled and looked away. "Yeah, and when I said no, he only got angry. Damn persistent bastard!" Her eyes flashed for a moment, and I was honestly terrified for a moment that she would take out her anger on me, who sat helpless and defenseless, tied to a chair. She calmed down, though, and simply smiled, thought it was a demonic sort of smile. "He may have won that round, but I'll kill him next time."

"Uhh..."

Alvin coughed and spoke lowly to his Captain, who straightened her shoulders and nodded. "Well, that's off topic, isn't it?"

Her questioned was directed towards me, which was confusing. I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward slightly. "...is it?"

"We're here to discuss what you'll give me in return for saving your life." I wanted to tell her that my life wasn't in any immediate danger until they decided to come in and raid the building, but held my tongue. She pulled up a chair and sat in it backward, resting her chin on the back, and meeting my eyes in an unnerving stare. "What do you have to offer me?"

My mind reeled. What did I have to offer her? Was she insane?

"I really hope that you don't mean any material goods." I spoke slowly, carefully choosing my words. "I don't even have clothes right now, so I can't give you much."

Alvin stepped forward and nodded, bending over and bracing his hands on his knees to speak next to Hazel's head. "She's right, Cap. I don't know what we're gonna get from her. Maybe we should just go with the plan."

_What plan?_

Hazel shook her head and smacked the back of his head, slamming him down onto the ground with a grunt. "Don't be an idiot. That was never a plan." I felt kind of relieved that there wasn't really a plan, but nervous for a completely different reason that I couldn't explain. "I have no desire to become a Shichibukai anyway. Those damn fools can't truly be pirates with the Marines breathing down their necks. I can't see how they do it."

"Well yeah, but we would have things easy for us! So long as we don't do anything directly against the Government, right?"

"I became a pirate to break the laws and be free, not to follow the rules of some stiff old farts and be forced to cooperate with them. Especially not Akainu."

"You're not thinking of all the good things that can come with the Shichibukai status. I mean, that man Tra-"

"I don't care what they are. It's not worth giving up my freedom."

"But Captain, we need-"

My eye had been twitching through the entire exchange between the two in front of me, and it appeared that the other two who had walked in earlier had left with sighs when they realized they weren't needed. So I cleared my throat and brought their bickering to a halt. "Hi, yeah, I'm still here, and I'm still waiting for you to talk to me."

Alvin, on his hands and knees, moved into a kneeling position and shared a look with Hazel, who then looked to me and nodded.

"You will bring me fame."

I'll...what? She wants me to…? Huh? "I don't think I understand what you mean, lady." The confusion was evident in my voice, which was understandable. Even Alvin was looking at her like she had lost her mind, and deep down, I thought that she had gone insane. "How would I do that? And why would you need me to?"

"For your time on this ship, I will show off that I have Panther D. Mara by my side." She held up her hand when I moved to speak, closing her eyes and thinking carefully. "I do not expect you to join my crew. It wouldn't work anyway, because your bounty is higher than my own, and a subordinate can't be more recognizable than their Captain." _What the hell is my bounty anyway? _"Instead, it will appear that we are allied. I just need to stir up some trouble on purpose with the next Marines we come in contact with, and they'll see that you're alive and well. Your face, obviously, is pretty well-known, especially after the War and the paper that included your death." _I really need to see this paper, too. _"As for _why, _well, who wouldn't want to be more recognizable."

I opened my mouth to start naming people, but no one came to mind immediately. This lead me to believe that the great pirate era was really about who was worth more dead or alive than who would find the One Piece and who would be the King. Were we all really that petty? Even I was happy when my bounty would increase.

"So," I began, shifting in the chair and chewing the inside of my cheek. "You just want me to be on display when you fight the next Marines you come across, right?" She nodded, Alvin looked unsure. "And then I'll be free to go when exactly?"

Her finger went to her chin and she looked up. "I hadn't thought of that."

"I'm not staying with you forever." I stated, merely for clarification of something that I hoped she knew already. She seemed in deep thought, truly wondering when they would let me free from this...agreement? Alliance? It surely couldn't be considered captivity, could it? I mean, I don't think they plan on keeping me chained to a wall the whole time...right?

Alvin sighed and looked to Hazel. "We'll arrive to the next island in a few days. We'll be sure to find some Marines on the way. We can drop her off there."

Her hook slammed into her hand with a resounding metallic _thunk _and she nodded. "That's a great idea." He looked proud of himself and flashed me a blinding smile, which I rolled my eyes to. Hazel stood from her chair and moved it over against the wall. "So Devil, you'll cooperate with me for the time being?"

"Of course." I did owe her, after all, for getting me out of there. "Just don't expect me to call you Captain. And I would kind of like to see that paper that talked about my death, if you have it."

She untied my wrists and stepped away, looking to Alvin, who stood from his kneeling position and rubbed his knees with a wince. "Ida should have that, right?" He nodded without looking up at her, instead more focused on getting the splinters of wood out of the knees of his jeans. Hazel turned back to me and nodded. "You can go retrieve those later. And you can call me Hazel."

"Okay, thanks." I stood and brushed off my butt, though there was probably nothing on it in the first place.

"Now we need to get up in the galley before Monroe throws a fit. I hope you're hungry, Devil." I said nothing, only followed her from the room when she started talking.

Alvin looked down while falling into step beside me. When I looked up, he smiled. "Welcome to the Raze Pirates, Mara."

I deadpanned at his statement. "I'm not joining you guys." He sputtered and frowned, face turning red. "So don't word things like that." He continued sputtering and throwing curses this way and that while I moved to catch up with Hazel.

"I was trying to be cool!" He sounded devastated, and when I turned back, he was on his knees, looking up to the ceiling with his hands outstretched.

Fighting to control the laughter that bubbled up at Alvin's expression and anger, I addressed Hazel. "Are you sure Ida will have the paper?"

Hazel nodded and lead me upstairs, sparing a glance over her shoulder as she turned a corner. "She's our log keeper. She keeps _everything._"

"Everything?"

She stopped and looked at me full on, her eyes conveying a fear for something that I couldn't even fathom. "_Everything._" Her whisper was horrified, and she seemed to be transported to a dark place before shaking it off and continuing to lead me away. I stayed in my place for a moment, afraid from the look she gave, and not knowing what exactly to expect. "She keeps all the papers that the News Coo brings, and writes down every single detail of everything that the crew does."

I nodded and caught up as she opened the door to the galley, revealing a loud and boisterous group of people that filled the tables from wall to wall. In the back of the room, behind a long wooden counter, a very tall woman stood, waving a ladle at a man who appeared to be sneaking something that wasn't his. She yelled and smacked him on the head several times with the metal utensil, effectively scaring him away. I was surprised by this woman. She was clearly the chef, but from the look in her eyes, she was completely blind.

Several people greeted Hazel with loud shouts, bringing everyone else's attention to us just long enough to say hello before going back to their meals. No one lingered on the fact that I was here, which I was grateful for, but also a little weirded out by. Wouldn't normal people gawk at someone who had been dead for two years? No say hi and go back to their dinner?

Hazel noticed the look on my face and clapped her hand on my shoulder. I noticed, with some dismay, that she was only a few inches taller than me. "We're in the New World, Devil. Seeing someone alive and well after thinking them dead is not the strangest thing that we've encountered."

"I'm in the New World?" She nodded, eyes widening at my outburst and confusion. I placed my hands to my hair and shook my head, a smile forming on my face. "Oh my gosh, this opens up a whole new world of opportunities!" She questioned what I meant while simultaneously leading me to get some food, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything through my excitement.

_I'm in the New World!_

After so long, I finally made it. After four years, I was finally on the second half of the Grand Line. And how long had I been here without knowing? Two freaking years! It was kind of frustrating that a new and unexplored ocean was outside the walls of that building for so long, but that didn't matter now. I was able to go out and do things! I was able to be on the devilish sea, and see for myself if I would be able to survive it!

Oh my...there are so many people here! It's been two years! That means that a certain rubber idiot has to have made it to this sea by now! Would I be able to see him soon? Is he okay? Did all of his crew members regroup successfully? And what about that flame brain? Is he okay? What about that crew? How are they faring without their captain?

And what about those idiots that I abandoned on the shore of Horona? Are...are they okay?

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**[A/N]: I have to go sign up for classes in the morning...I don't want to be about that college life...someone come save me please? This means that I won't be able to post as often as I would like (but I can also use it as an excuse for times that I don't want to post of have major writer's block). **

**I definitely just pumped this chapter out at three in the morning (not smart since I have to be up and ready at like nine in the morning), but I'm happy with it. Are you? Do you like it?**

**Please review and favorite and all that jazz! I'm hoping that this sequel isn't disappointing to anyone yet!**

**Love you~!**

**XoXoXoXo**


	3. Recognition

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

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**Chapter Three**

A hand literally engulfed my face, startling me from my deep sleep. I shot up in the bed and struck out blindly, the other hand of this person catching my fist easily with a chuckle. My eyes searched frantically in the dark, and thankfully (for him) he turned on the light before my foot could connect with something pretty important in between his legs.

"It's showtime, little lady." Alvin kept his grip on my hand and pulled me from my bed and to my feet, revealing the shirt and underwear, borrowed from Hazel herself, that I had fallen asleep in hours before. He gave me a once over and bit his lip. "Put some pants on."

I did, but not because he told me to. If I heard him correctly, now was the time for me to be prepared for anything. This was the first group of Marines we had run into in the past two days, right on time because we would be arriving on the island that they were sailing for later on tonight.

Donning pants, I followed Alvin from the small closet that had been dubbed my temporary room up to the deck. The sounds of fighting were all too familiar, and I caught the sickening grin on Alvin's face as we reached the top of the stairs, the sun just barely peeking across the horizon to give me the sense that it was still very early in the morning. "The Captain wants you up on the observation deck with her." I nodded and turned around, purposely ignoring the way he sprung into action and severed two heads in such a short amount of time.

Up on the observation deck, Hazel stood with her arms down to her sides and her head cocked to the right, observing with a small, content smile on her face. Say what you want about the Raze Pirates, but I had never met a crew as happy about bloodshed and fighting since I met the Kidd Pirates, and that was saying something. Maybe that was the reason that Kidd and Hazel didn't get along. They were both bloodthirsty maniacs, and that lead to them butting heads.

"Do you require a weapon, Devil? Or will your Fruit powers be enough to get you by?" I slid my gaze from her to the fight and gnawed on my lip. "You do realize that you will at least have to make yourself known, right? They will not see you up here because they are busy with what's going on down there." I nodded, seeing where she was coming from, but not willing to go down and get myself mixed up in this. "You do not need to fight, but you need to go down there. I would feel better if you could protect yourself, but if you wish to not have a weapon, I don't care. You always fight with your Fruit powers, don't you?"

I panicked and nodded, but then shook my head and groaned. "I-I'll take a weapon. You got, like, a sword or something?" She jerked her head, indicating the wall behind us, and I stalked over to the weapons that adorned the span of the wall. I wasn't a fighter with swords, but figured I should learn to fight with _some _kind of weapon, seeing as how Devil Fruit powers wouldn't get be by like they used to. Sure, I didn't know how to handle a sword very well, but _they _didn't need to know that. All I had to do was swing it if someone came at me. Simple, right? (Though if I said that to Mihawk, there was no doubt in my mind that _I _would be the one getting swung at.)

My eyes were drawn to a smaller blade and I grabbed it instantly, feeling that the weight was just right, almost similar to the blade that Mihawk leant me all those years ago. I tested the weight by thrusting it forward for good measure a few times before turning back, catching the amused look on Hazel's face as she watched me over her shoulder.

"You're ready, Devil?"

I put a hand on my hip and rested the flat of the blade against my shoulder, giving a cocky grin despite the fact that I was nervous about going down into the fight. "I was born ready, Hazel."

We must have looked like quite the pair, walking down the stairs and drawing the attention of everyone to us. One by one, every person on the deck turned their head to our figures walking down the staircase, Hazel every ounce of graceful while I was every ounce of awkward. I caught the slight movement of her right hand from the corner of my eye, noticing that she was bringing it to the gun hidden in her waistband, prepared for what was to come. I followed suit, gripping the handle of the sword tightening and straightening my posture.

The Marines seemed to be in a daze. They began to mumble amongst one another, now completely ignoring the pirates that were surrounding them. Hazel and I stopped on the last step and waited patiently.

Finally, one Marine screamed. He was small and squeaky, and definitely knew who I was without a doubt, only further proven by his loud exclamation. "T-That's Panther D. Mara! She's not dead!"

"Impossible! You saw the paper!"

The second man's words brought my mind back to the paper that was shown to me the other day that circulated the day after my 'death'. It detailed that I had turned myself in willingly, most likely because the Marines were too proud to say that they fucked up and got some of their own men killed because something unexpected happened. It claimed that every single person on the Marine ship was killed by an unmarked vessel, as well as the Sea Kings that surrounded the area during the chaos.

I'm not sure even now what happened on the ship. As soon as everything started going wrong, my brain got fuzzy. At some point, however, my body must have been recovered by the Marines so that they could snap a photo of my prone figure, looking all the part of a dead woman. This photo came out in the paper a week after the first paper, as if to constitute some proof that I was truly dead. Though I was still confused on that as well, because during these last two years, I wasn't with Marines. In fact, I was with some hardcore Marine haters, who didn't want to associate with them at all. So how they got the picture in the first place was beyond me. Maybe they had-

"Holy shit! The scar! She has the scar!"

Hazel flinched at the shouting of a third Marine, who seemed to have caught on that I was who they assumed I was. She looked at me from the corner of her eye in time to see my fingers come up and brush the scar on the side of my face.

"Panther D. Mara is alive! We have to notify Fleet Admiral Akainu immediately!"

Now it was my turn to flinch, remembering the man that had nearly struck Ace down during the War, and was responsible for scarring Luffy and injuring my hand. I inched forward, as if Akainu was actually nearby and I could fight him again (though it wasn't much of a fight), but Hazel pressed her hand to my arm, shaking her head. Who the fuck was she to tell me what to do?

"Remember the plan, Devil. Don't let anger cloud your judgement." I took a deep breath and nodded, relaxing slightly from my ready-to-bolt position and, as she suggested, remembering the plan. They needed to know that I was here. These guys needed to report it. Hazel grinned and pulled the pistol from her waistband, shooting a Marine in the head without a warning. "Tell your Fleet Admiral whatever you want!" She then shot forward, light on her feet, and gouged another man's eye out with her hook. "That is, if we allow you to live, right, Devil?"

I sighed. _This is what I'm here for, after all._

With a smile of my own, mainly forced, I lightly jumped from the stair into the resumed fighting, coming down in the middle of three Marines who had just dealt with three members of the Raze Pirates to the point that they weren't dead, but couldn't move.

At once, the Marine in front of me charged, bringing his own sword over his head and arching it downwards towards my head. Perhaps something happened in the two years that I was in captivity that had somehow improved my skills without training, but I was able to easily dodge, stepping to the side gracefully. The Marine turned to me with wide eyes just in time for my own blade to sweep across his chest, knocking him onto his back on the deck.

A noise and the feeling of the footfall behind me alerted me of another attack from one of the remaining two Marines. I bent forward as he hacked his sword with the intent to decapitate, flipping my own blade in my hand and thrusting it backwards into his thigh. He screamed and went down when I glided my sword up his leg, cutting deep and long.

The final Marine was a challenge. He was clearly more adept at sword fighting than the previous two Marines, and was definitely better than I was. He lunged forward, and instead of swiping at me or slashing downwards, he thrust the blade towards my chest. A quick thought back to that time with Mihawk and I leapt backwards out of his range, slashing my sword down and knocking his blade off center, the tip digging into the wood of the deck for the briefest of moments. He righted himself almost immediately and started forward using the same tactic again.

I leapt and slashed over and over until, finally, I was backed into a wall. He thrust once more, a grin marring his features. He looked ready to win this fight, and I couldn't blame him. In most situations, once someone is backed into a wall, they're pretty much done for. It was a common situation that one would learn about.

It was also a common misconception. Clearly, if every person backed into a wall or corner was defeated, there wouldn't be so many great fighters in the world.

So I gave a grin of my own, allowing the tip of his blade to come nearly an inch from my chest before lifting my sword, the tip raised to the sky, and sliding it along the side of his blade. His eyes widened and I frowned, stepping forward as my blade slid further down, cutting into his fingers that held the hilt of his sword. He screamed and the thunk of three fingers hitting the deck were as loud as gunshots at the moment. The man had enough sense to pull his hand back and kick out at me, but I was faster than him. I dodged the kick by moving to the side and brought my own foot up, delivering a blow directly to his chin.

And down he went, teeth shattered and three fingers gone from one hand. The me from two years ago would have felt insane remorse for doing something like this, but I was a new person now. I wasn't as afraid as I had been.

Thankfully, I wasn't very much in the fight after that. I wasn't here to fight everyone anyway. Several Marines laid witness to how I had disposed of three of their men, and were backing away towards their ship. Hazel caught my eyes from somewhere in the chaos and nodded. These men would be the ones that went back and reported what they found out here. They would go to HQ and tell whoever that Panther D. Mara was back, and she apparently teamed up with Brunt 'The Raze' Hazel, boosting her bounty in the process.

The fighting was over in all of fifteen minutes, and the injured were brought back to the infirmary or thrown overboard if they were dead. I chose not to speak of how Hazel handled her fallen comrades. It wasn't my business. And later tonight, I would be off this ship and on an island where I can choose my next course of action.

"Pretty intense, huh?" Alvin broke into my thoughts and personal space as he stood beside me, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, mirroring my own position in such a way that I thought he was mocking me by doing so. I glared up at him and said nothing, turning back to the group of Raze Pirates that were cleaning up the deck and singing a song. "It must have felt good, even if you won't admit it." Now I was desperate for him to get away from me because I had a bad feeling that the next words out of his mouth would- "Having so much pent up frustrations, and then a blissful..._release._"

_And there it is._

I choked on my spit and my face heated into a blush that I hadn't felt in such a long time. Looking up to his face, I saw the happy smile turn into one of amusement. I turned away from him and puffed my cheeks out in anger. "You're disgusting."

He held up his hands and chuckled. "Hey there, I was talking about bloodlust, but _you _were the one taking it to a whole new place." I continued to look away and refused to believe that he _wasn't _thinking dirty thoughts with the way he phrased it and spoke. "Although," He continued, shifting closer and brushing his hand over my elbow. "If you do need that kind of release, I'll be more than happy to-"

Holding my head high, I stepped away from the wall and moved towards the stairs leading up to the observation deck, where I had seen Ida and another woman go after the fighting, adamantly ignoring the laughs of the perverted first mate. It hadn't been the first time that he hinted at doing..._things. _In fact, it was a constant harassment that I wished would stop as soon as it began. Yes, he was handsome, but not...right. He was insane, first of all, and kind of a sexist pig to everyone who wasn't Hazel. This, however, was the first time he said something outright. The only good thing was that his hand had found its way to something that _wasn't _my ass or breasts.

Throwing the door open to the observation deck, I headed to where Ida was conversing with the other woman. Stepping in, I was momentarily mesmerized by how the two women complimented each other in appearance. Ida was light, having pale skin, pale blonde hair, and startlingly dark eyes that stuck out against her complexion. The other woman had decidedly darker skin, very light golden eyes, and dark blue hair that cascaded down her back in a high ponytail.

"Ah, Mara, it's nice to see you again." Ida greeted, looking up just enough to spare me a glance before turning back to write in the notebook open before her on the table. I greeted her back and merely sat down a few chairs from her at the long table, eyeing the other woman curiously. She returned my gaze, not bothering to hide her disdain. "Now Frenchie, can you tell me more about the fight please?"

The dark woman, now known as Frenchie, groaned and slid down her chair in annoyance. "C'mon, Ida. You don't need every single detail! Just say we kicked some Marine ass and _boom. _You've got your log."

Ida frowned and thwacked Frenchie on her forehead with the pen, the sound loud enough to make me flinch and cringe while Frenchi merely rubber the spot with a grimace. "Captain said you have to tell me. I'll either be accurate, or I'll die."

It seemed like an exaggeration, but Frenchie no longer fought against her. And I found myself listening to the tales of the small scuffle that took place only an hour before on the deck below from the eyes of the crew's sharpshooter. Having been forced to give details, she didn't disappoint. I heard every gruesome detail, graphically I might add, from every shot in the head of a Marine to every drop of blood that splattered onto her face as she moved in for a closer kill. I wasn't as disgusted as I should have been by her bloodlust because she was a great storyteller, much like another sharpshooter that I had been introduced to a while back. In fact, there were quite a few similarities between the two, although Frenchie's nose was rather normal in appearance.

At the end of her retelling, Ida shut her notebook with a satisfied sigh and Frenchie stormed from the room, muttering about the canons needing cleaning.

"We'll be at the next island soon. A few hours I think." She announced in her quiet voice, fiddling with the edge of the notebook while looking out the large windows that covered the wall.

I nodded and followed her gaze. "Do you guys know what island it is?" She hummed a negative, and I nodded again. "I guess it doesn't matter."

"...as long as you get to leave this ship, right?"

I said nothing about her ending my sentence. I didn't tell her that had been exactly what I was thinking because, though she seemed kind enough, I wouldn't put it past her to be as insane and bloodthirsty as the rest of these pirates. Hell, it would be just my luck that she would be the worst out of all of them!

Ida noted my silence and collected her things, moving to the door and smiling. "Breakfast should be done." There was a tone in her voice that lead me to believe she was amused, though I wasn't sure what she amused for. I waited for her to leave the observation deck before standing and slowly following. One thing was for sure, and I would be extremely happy when I was off this ship and would be able to feel somewhat safe again.

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**[A/N]: A longer chapter with an attempt at a small fight scene. I'm not very great at those, but I am trying my hardest. If you guys have any suggestions on how to improve or anything like that, help me out please? Help me help you! I want to get good at these things :D**

**I'm going to rant for a moment about my frustrations the past few days. Feel free to ignore this.**

**SO! I go up to the school the other day to turn in my shot records, but I had to have accepted the terms and conditions of some email that I never received, so the lady at Records went and resent it to me THREE TIMES herself, and I still NEVER GOT IT! So, my mom and I decided that I would do online classes instead, since I don't need my shot records for that. We went to the computer there and I tried to sign up for History and English. I tried three different classes for those subjects, and they were _all full. _I told my mom I gave up and would do it at home because I was getting so frustrated and I couldn't sit down and I wanted to cry. I literally teared up! Back at home, I went through every single English class. They were all full. The last History class I tried had open spaces, so I registered for that. Then me and my mom spent _two hours _scouring the course catalogs and my degree plan to try and figure out what I could take online (science is not an online option, which sucks). I finally gave up and said that I would just take stupid Algebra online. I ended up having to try four of the Algebra classes until I found one with open spaces! SO after I get registered for those two classes, I check my email on my phone and notice that I have three emails from the school. It was the emails that the records lady was sending me! SO I accept the terms and conditions, and still have to go up to the school to turn in my shot record, but I have to wait until Monday. I also have to go up and tell them that I'm paying for my classes through financial aid, or else they'll drop me from them, and I have to get my student ID so I can get books!**

**All in all, I don't want to go back to school because it's making my chest hurt and I want to cry.**

**Rant = over.**

**ANYWAY I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you again soon. Love you~!**

**XoXoXoXo**


	4. Farewell Raze Pirates

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**I've also been very sad. Read the AN at the end to know why.**

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**Chapter Four**

"Well, it was nice knowing you, Devil."

Hazel stood on the ramp connected to her ship, crossing her ankles and cocking her hip to the side with a smile. I nodded in agreement, looking towards the rest of the island. A large bustling area, most likely a town of some sort, rested beyond the rocky area that they dropped me off at. The sounds of music and voices drifted even this far out, and the only indication of how close it was to me was the soft glow that the light emitted over the rocks. I didn't know where we were, and I would have to find out on my own when I made the trek to this lively area.

Alvin stepped forward and brought my attention to him when he obnoxiously cleared his throat, smiling in faux sweetness. "If you ever need to let that pent up frustration out again, you can give me a call. I won't mind."

"Shut up." I growled, fighting the blush spreading over my cheeks and turning to Hazel, facing her directly and bowing at the waist. "Thank you for all your help." I had to have manners and be polite to the person who decided to help me, even if it was for her own gain.

She laughed and I straightened up with a smile of my own. "I should be thanking you, Devil. By morning everyone will know you're back in action, and I'll be seen as more of a threat." Her grin spread slowly over her face as she spoke, her eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight while she looked past me towards the city lights. "Hopefully that Metal Bastard will see my face in the paper and it will bring him to me. Then I can finish what I started."

_This seems like it had been an interesting fight and I wish she would go into more detail. Maybe, if I ever see Kidd again, he can tell me what happened?_

"We gotta go now." Ida spoke softly from Hazel's other side, looking warily up at the moon. "It's a waste of time to stay. Time that we can't waist if you want to keep on schedule."

Hazel sighed and frowned. "Fine, fine. Devil, we'll meet again someday!" And with that she turned on her heel, hook digging into the back of Alvin's shirt to drag him away, for he was so busy winking at me that he wasn't paying attention. "Good luck with life, Mara. Hopefully things will look up for you!"

The large ship sailed off while the ramp was being dragged up from the sand, leaving me alone on this rocky excuse for a beach. The waves lapped dangerously high as the Raze Pirate's ship pushed off from the shore, the only person sitting against the railing and watching me being Ida, with a small smirk on her face. I didn't get why they were acting so odd now, and I could only assume that it was because they _did _know what this island was, and they knew that something bad would happen here.

I shook off this bad feeling and turned my back to this ship, staying acutely aware of my surroundings and keeping my hand on the holt of the sword that Hazel allowed me to take for safety reasons. I had rolled my eyes at the forceful way she had thrust the blade into my hands, but was deep down very grateful, for I would need something to fight with if things started to go bad here.

Walking over these rocks was hard. I would think that it had to do with the moon offering the only light that I could go off of, and I would stick to that story if someone found me wedged in between these rocks because I had fallen. The night factor would take the blame, not my clumsiness. Nonetheless, I slipped and slid all over the wet rocks, only catching myself with my hands braced against various areas every time I fell, my heart skipping beats and small squeals leaving my mouth involuntarily. Thankfully, no one was around to hear these embarrassing noises and see these embarrassing falls.

Making it over the rocks after a painstaking twenty minutes, I slid down onto my butt and pulled the sword from my hip, drawing my knees up and resting an elbow on them, leaning my head down and resting. I opened my eyes after a moment and looked to my left, shouting out when I noticed a path that obviously lead to where I had just come from. How did I not notice that?

_Blame the darkness, Mara. Not your idiocy._

I closed my eyes once more and took a deep breath. After so long, I was able to relax. After almost two years, I was alone without any immediate danger to my life. There was no one looming over me with the threat of punishment for acting out. There was no pirate crew that I didn't know standing nearby, whispering about who-knows-what and looking like they would gladly kill me without a second thought. My shoulders sagged in relief and a choke laugh found it's way out of my throat. The feeling of complete relaxation was too much for a moment. I hadn't felt it in so long that it brought me physical as well as emotional pain. My entire body relaxed from the tenseness that had become the norm, bringing another choked laugh forward, which, towards the end, turned into a sob.

My hands gripped the hilt of the sword harder as the drawn out sob came to an end. I sucked in a shuddering breath, only to cry out once more, tears now welling up at the edge of my eyes. Pressing my forehead to my knees, I choked on my tears, the saltiness falling through my lips. I must have sounded pretty stupid at that moment if anyone heard me, crying all alone against some rocks. In all honesty, I must have looked downright suicidal, holding the sword as hard as I was and sounding as broken and sad as I did.

But who cares what other think, right? I was finally alone and free. I could do what I wanted with my alone time, and while I wasn't planning on spending it crying over the past two years, It seems that was how it was going to go, and no one could judge me for that. No one else was there, so no one else had the right to tell me to suck it up. It's been a while since I cried last, and I needed to get it out now before I headed into this unknown territory.

So I sat there against that wet rock, wearing clothes that clearly weren't mine, clutching a sword that I guess _was _mine now, crying over the past two years for the first and last time. There was no way to say how long I sat there against that rock, rocking back and forth and being as loud as I wanted. All I knew was that when I finally stopped and wiped my face against the sleeve of the borrowed long sleeve shirt, the moon was considerably lower to the horizon, and on the other side, the glow of the sun was coming up. Clearly it had been hours since I arrived to this island.

Standing up with one last sniffle, I brushed the dirt off of me, hooked the sword back onto my hip, and began walking to where the music and voices hadn't died down all night. What the hell kind of town am I walking towards? Who stays up and parties all night?

In any case, the walk wasn't as long as I had thought it would be. Before I knew it, I was coming from the mouth of an alley into a very beautiful and colorful town as the sun rose above the buildings. Or was this considered a city? The people were very beautiful everywhere I looked, women wearing beautiful dresses and men dressed nicely, many of them walking arm in arm, looking like picturesque couples. Children hung from the arms of their parents, excitedly babbling about whatever they could be happy about this early in the morning. The buildings were gorgeous pieces of architecture, and if I hadn't been so distracted, I would have studied them closer and appreciated the beauty.

And what was so distracting? Well…

Mixed in with the men, women, and children walking around the town, there was a fourth..._species _walking around. Gender? Okay, there were walking and talking freaking _toys _moving around on their own and seeming to be a part of everyday life. Like, some of them were arm in arm with humans, as if they were couples.

_Calm down, Mara. You can't judge people. You're in the New World now, remember? You're going to have to get used to strange things like this._

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes for a moment, I calmed down. Re-opening my eyes, I smiled and began to trick myself into thinking this was normal. Toys walking and talking like humans? Yeah, that's normal. Who wouldn't think that was normal? I mean, it's just as normal as coming across another species like...a Fish Man or a giant. Yup. Toys are no different than Fish Men or giants!

_Except they are completely different._

"Shut up..." I growled out, turning on my heel to head down the street, ignoring the appalled look of a passing man who must have thought I was talking to him, though from the look on his face, he must not have been making any noise and was understandably confused by my small outburst. Great. I'm in this town for less than five minutes and already one person thinks I'm a nut bag.

Stretching my arms above my head, I gave a yawn. Keeping my hands behind my head, I looked around at the buildings. I would definitely need to find a place to stay, preferably for free since those Raze Pirates didn't think to give me any money to do anything. Of course they wouldn't, because they were pirates, but I couldn't help but feel a little bitter about it. It was rude. I was poor and on a strange island. They _least _they could have done was given me a small amount of money for food or some clothes to blend in more.

Oh my God what if someone recognizes me and there are Marines on this island and they come for me and-

Okay, one thing was for certain. I need new clothes. Preferably something that can hide who I am pretty well without seeming suspicious. It's not like I could give myself a fake beard because I was definitely a woman and that would draw attention to myself. Maybe something with a hood? I saw some women wearing hooded capes and things of the sort, so it wouldn't be too out of place. So if I could scrounge up some money and buy a dress and cape (and maybe some shoes), I would be set. Sleeping outside wasn't a problem. I could just go back to that rocky cape I was at before. And fishing shouldn't be too hard, right?

"Hey! Stop right there!"

I squealed and ran into the nearest alley, peeking out to see two men, looking like police, chasing a woman down the street, guns up and aimed to kill. The woman was strikingly beautiful from what I could see from my hiding place, her vermillion hair flowing behind her in one long, intricate braid, which instilled anger in me for all of a moment before a gunshot rang out and distracted me.

The woman gasped and gripped at her thigh, now bleeding through the fabric of her gorgeous flowing dress. I moved to do something, but the woman surprised me by turning to face her pursuers, pulling two small knives from some straps on her uninjured thigh, and throwing them with deadly accuracy, hitting both men square in the chest. I cringed at the _thunk _of the blades hitting their flesh, and then the crashing of their bodies against the street.

She turned and moved to run again, gripping her thigh as people behind her screamed and called for help to get rid of the murderer. I was conflicted for a moment. Should I help her, or should I just walk away? I was in town for less than fifteen minutes now, and I didn't really want to get mixed up in too much trouble. But…

As the sound of whistles being blown from not too far away reached my ears, my decision was made and I sprung into action, running to the woman and grabbing her around the waist, tucking her under my arm and heading back into the alley, running as fast as I could away from the approaching whistle sounds. She struggled against my hold and even slapped at my back a few times, grunting with exertion and kicking her feet, her heels hitting my shins a few times.

"I don't know who you think you are, but put me down this instant!"

I snorted and almost laughed at her annoyance. "I don't think so, lady."

She stiffened in my arms as I rounded one last corner, listening to our surroundings in the silence. There was no danger nearby, so I set her carefully on a crate in the alley we stopped in and put my hands on my hips, looking at her face clearly. She was even more beautiful than I had imagined. On top of her odd vermillion hair, she had odd eyes, a mixture of blues and golds, the likes of which I had never seen before on any human.

The only thing ruining her beauty was the furrowed brows and confused expression. "Y-You're a woman."

I gritted my teeth and slammed a fist onto her head. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" She clutched the bump and looked absolutely shocked that I even hit her in the first place. I then remembered the knives she pulled from her thigh straps and started to pat her down. "You better not be planning to kill me now, lady."

"What do you think you're doing? Get your hands off of me!" She squirmed and slapped at my hands, which pressed over every inch of her until I deemed that those knives she threw were the last of her weapons and I was safe. "You must not be from around here."

My eyes rolled of their own accord and I frowned, leaning against the wall opposite the crate she sat on. "Oh yeah? And what in the world gave you _that _impression, huh?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

I grinned and stepped towards her, sort of relishing in the small flinch she gave when I reached my hand out to grab the bottom of her dress. "A good samaritan." I pulled it up just enough to see the gunshot wound on her thigh. Thankfully it had gone through completely, and from how she didn't appear to be in too much pain, the bone hadn't shattered from it. I wasn't a medical expert, but this must be able to cause some muscles and/or nerve damage...I think. "We're gonna need to get you wrapped up."

"And you need new clothes. You look like a man." The urge to punch her again reared it's ugly head, but I fought it down, pulling her dress back down in the right place and moving to grab her around the waist again. She pushed my hands away and frowned. "Don't carry me."

We worked it out so she would limp her way along, arm wrapped around my shoulder while mine went around her waist, supporting her until we got to where we needed to be. "You do have a house, right?" She shot me another glare and I did my best to make a surrendering face. "Sorry sorry, I was just making sure. Lead the way...uh..."

"Londae." I hummed. It was a nice name. Not quite common. Matching her unique appearance. "And what might your name be?"

"Mara."

_Damn! I was gonna tell her a fake name!_

She hummed in response and looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Interesting. You have the same name and appearance...as..." The look on her face when it morphed from speculation to confusion to absolute horror would have been funny, if it had been different circumstances. "You're _alive?_"

"That seems to be everyone's response to the news."

Londae seemed uncomfortable now with my arm around her and tried to put as much distance between our touching sides as she could. "I have no intention of befriending a pirate such as yourself, Mara the Devil."

"Well that's good," I replied, following her lead as she turned another corner, choosing to ignore her fearful eyes as I looked and listened for the police. "I have no intentions of befriending a murderer and scaredy cat." Her cheeks puffed out and she screeched her innocence at me. "Alright alright, just shut up before you let them find us."

She did as I told, noting that my eyes darted from the open alleyway, to her face, and down to the sword on my hip, which she noticed for the first time with wide eyes. She lapsed into silence then, simply leading the way to her house with barely a glance in my direction. Her posture didn't warm up in the slightest and she still seemed to hate the fact that she was standing beside and relying on the help of a pirate, more specifically, me.

As a sort of awkward ice breaker, because her silence was really bothering me, I asked her what she was being chased for in the first place.

Londae averted her eyes towards a building and bit her lip. "Well...there was this man," She began after a moment, the hand resting on my shoulder tightening into a fist. "He was the love of my life. We were to be married." I nodded, urging her on when she fell silent, probably remembering what she was about to tell me. "Well, I found him in the dark of the night, walking down the street...he was walking with another _woman._" I widened my eyes at the sudden malice in her voice. "That bastard was cheating on me, so I only had one choice."

I gulped, now wanting to move away from _her _because of the murderous aura she was emitting. "And, uh, what _was_ that choice, Londae?"

She frowned, looking down to the ground, her hand relaxing against my shoulder. "I had to stab him to death."

_Oh my…_

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**[A/N]: Alright guys, I've been crying almost nonstop for the past couple of days because on August 11, 2014, at the age of 63, Robin Williams passed away. Now, I know you guys probably don't think it's a reason for me to cry, because I never met the guy and didn't know him personally, but it was still a heavy blow. I wrote a post on Tumblr that describes my feelings pretty well on the matter:**

"I believe the main reason his passing has hit me so hard is because, in my short 18 years of life, **Robin Williams was one of the few constants that I had**, and I hadn't fully realized that he would have to go away one day. I'm reacting as if I had lost a family member or a close friend because _**that's what Robin was to me.**_This man was there for me since I was a child. This man was the one that, when I was an infant and watching Jumanji for the first time, _**gave me my very first laugh.**_He was more than just "some actor" to me. He was my childhood, and now that he's gone, I feel as though that childhood is truly over now.

I'm taking this so hard because this is not the first time that I lost a constant before realizing that I would have to. The firsts were my great grandparents, then there was my best friend our freshman year, and now Robin. So yes, I will talk about it. I will probably talk about how much I already miss him tomorrow. I will talk about it next week. I will talk about it **_next year._ **Because Robin was like an Uncle that I never got the chance to meet, but heard and saw great things that he did, and his death is a heart break that I will never forget."

**This is the reason for my sadness as of late.**

**And about this chapter, I hope you all liked it, and I'm sorry for the long Authors Notes recently, but a lot of things just keep happening. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, and I won't be as sad writing it.**

**Love you all and see you soon**

**XoXoXo**


	5. Dressrosan Thoughts

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**Small chapter, not that exciting, sorry~**

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**Chapter Five**

No small talk was made the rest of the way to Londae's house. I couldn't even find it in myself to form words after hearing that she stabbed a man to death. I guess I shouldn't have been so shocked, as I had travelled with people who killed and I, myself, was a killer. However, I think it was the almost casual way she admitted to the deed, as if it wasn't the first time she had killed someone, and it wouldn't be the last. I didn't take pride in killing people, per se. Every time I did it, it was in defense of my own life, or someone elses who I knew shouldn't die. I hated openly admitting to my own deeds, and she seemed pretty fine with it.

So we headed to her house in silence, each of us looking out for the police and making sure to stick in the back streets and alleys to ensure we didn't get sighted. By the time we made it through her front door, the blood from her thigh dripped all the way to her foot, staining her dress in the shape of a line that got thinner the lower it went.

I walked her to the sofa against the far wall and helped her sit down, ordering her to lie back while I grabbed a chair. "Do you have any first aid supplies?" She directed me to her bathroom, fetching the supplies that were kept in the cabinet. I opened the small red box and was glad to see everything that I would need, ranging from alcohol to needles and thread.

"Why are you helping me?" She finally asked as I settled back beside her with freshly washed hands. I looked up from her injury to see the confusion on her face, mixed in with some apprehension. She allowed me to pull her leg over, resting the back of her calf against my knee.

I sighed and set to work, pulling the alcohol from the box and pouring it over the wound, holding her down by her ankle when she kicked out from the sting. "Because I want you to have to owe me." She snorted and muttered '_shameless' _under her breath. I simply smirked and set to sewing the hole closed, not really sure if that was what I should be doing and not knowing if I was doing it right, but keeping that to myself. She didn't need to know that. That would only lead her to freak out and probably try to kill me, which would lead to me killing her. "So," I began, to try to take her mind off the pain of her thigh. "I take it you live alone now."

"Obviously." Her rude response almost made me laugh, and I may have tugged a little too hard against her skin with the needle in retaliation. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged and ordered her to roll over so I could do the hole in the back of her thigh. "I just happened to come here, that's all."

"So you have no ulterior motives by being here?"

The intensity of her voice alerted me that maybe there really was something wrong with this island. I looked up from my work and met her eyes over her shoulder, noting the burning anger in the depths of the blue and gold mixture. Her body, or at least her legs, was tense under my hands. I should choose my answer carefully, because I wasn't here with any secret plans, but I needed answers.

Well, my mom used to tell me that honesty was the best policy, so let's see how that works out in this situation.

"Honestly?" She nodded, not taking her burning eyes off my face. I looked back down to her leg and finished up. "I'm not even sure where '_here' _is."

Londae sat up and fixed her dress as I spoke, giving me an incredulous look as she situated herself comfortable on her sofa. "You ever hear of a place called Dressrosa?"

"Oh fuck me..."

She nodded. "You may want to stay hidden if you know where you are. His Majesty seemed pretty happy that you were announced dead, and if he sees you, he'll be pissed off."

"I don't see why he would care. I've never even met him officially." She only shrugged in response, flicking her hair over her shoulder and inspecting her nails. "I need clothes. And something to hide my face."

Londae spared me a glance for only a moment before turning back to her nails. "I'll head out now." I tensed and gave her a glare, bringing a sigh from her lips. "I'm not going to turn you in, because I would be seen as a traitor and probably get killed alongside you. I'll buy you something that will allow you to blend in...and look like a real woman."

I stood and punched her on the head as I moved to the bathroom to take care of the first aid kit. She cursed at me all through gathering her things and leaving the house with a promise to be back within the hour and ordering me not to let anyone know that I was there. Like I needed her to tell me that. So I was left alone in her house, not really wanting to snoop into her personal belongings. Instead, I needed to think about what I had gotten myself into. Or, what the Raze Pirates got me into.

This island is Dressrosa, and from what I could remember of what was told to me about this place, I was in the port town of Acacia. I'm not sure where, but there was another town by the name of Primula somewhere, and a Colosseum located near Acacia.

However, this useless geography wasn't what I needed to think about. Instead, I needed to focus on the fact that I was in the domain of one of the worst Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo. It was true, I had never met the man, but I had seen him once before up close, a long time ago. I had still been with Mihawk and we were going somewhere (I couldn't remember where now), when Doflamingo appeared. I could remember thinking that he was very tall for almost no reason that I could fathom. He wasn't a giant, but he had to have been around ten feet tall.

Just his appearance creeped me out, and apparently he was bad enough for Mihawk to tell me to wait on the boat while he went to see what the large man wanted. It wasn't the first time I had been exposed to violence, considering the events that happened with my family and the place that I grew up at with my brothers. But this was the first time that I saw someone _enjoy _killing another person. Even Kaeli, while she killed our family, didn't look happy about it, keeping a neutral expression throughout the entire ordeal. But Doflamingo cackled and beamed with joy as he decapitated a man who walked in between the two Shichibukai during their conversation.

I remember the experience and wondering how someone can be so cruel. At the time, four years ago, it really affected me that someone could be that way about death, treating it so casually and like a game. Of course that changed when I met the Kidd Pirates and realized that they were the same as Doflamingo.

Thinking back to the information that I gathered about people during my piracy, some key facts about Doflamingo stuck out among the numerous myths and theories I heard. First and foremost, it was whispered among people in the shadier parts of islands that he was and still is an underground broker, doing illegal business behind the Government's back under the alias Joker. When I had asked Mihawk if that was true, I was ignored. Secondly, he had a Devil Fruit that could caused problems. I had no idea what it was, but it was scary enough to decapitate a man with the flick of his wrist. He was scary enough to have Mihawk actually express some genuine concern for my wellbeing.

But why would he be affected so strongly by my death? It wasn't as if I had run into him during the War of the Best two years ago, and as far as I knew, he hadn't been aware of my presence during that ten minute meeting with Mihawk. Even if he was aware of me being there through Haki maybe, that didn't explain anything. Was it because he wanted me gone just because I was there? Maybe he didn't like that Luffy and I had succeeded in saving Ace from Marineford, and he had a personal vendetta against the three of us, wanting all of us to die. That didn't seem likely, but it was a possibility.

And what would I do if he found me here? What would _he _do? If Londae was telling the truth, if he found me here in his kingdom, I was going to die. Or maybe get tortured? If it came down to it, I hoped that he would kill me instead, because torture wasn't high on the list of things that I wanted to happen.

"I'm back, pirate boy." My eye twitched, but I didn't move from my spot. Londae turned into the living room to catch me sitting on the chair that I was on when she left. I looked up to see her eyebrows raise and her eyes fill with confusion. "You been there the whole time?"

I scoffed. "Of course not." It was a lie, but she didn't have to know that.

She didn't question it and instead sauntered over to the sofa, sitting down and placing the shopping back hanging from her wrist onto my lap. "Well, I tried to find something that would blend in and not make you look like a criminal or a man."

"Thanks."

Opening the bag, my eyes were assaulted by bright colored fabric. A bright blue with large white polka dots to be specific. My first thought was that this would make me stick out like a sore thumb, but then I remember the outfits and colors that I saw around the town and rethought that. Pulling the clothes out, I stood from the chair to admire the dress that I held before my eyes. It had been a while since I wore a dress, and I was looking forward to slipping it on. Looking at it now, I assumed that when I put it on it would hug my body from my bust to my hips, then flare out some. It resembled the dresses that the dancer women I saw briefly were wearing.

"There's shoes and a cape at the bottom of the bag."

I looked back in the bag after she spoke, grabbing the black shoes from the bottom, glad that the heels weren't too high so I wouldn't break my neck trying to walk around. The cape was also black, short enough all around so that it would only reach the middle of my back, with a hood that would cover my entire hair and shadow my face if I so desired.

Placing the dress on my arm and putting the shoes and cape back in the bag, I turned to Londae and gave a genuine smile. "Really, thank you. I appreciate it."

She gave a _tch_ and looked away. "I only did it so I wouldn't owe anything to you." I nodded, understanding what she was saying, but unable to stop smiling. Why was I so excited to wear a dress when I hated them before? "Now, if you need anything else, you'll owe me." I deadpanned at her grin.

"Well," I started, looking to the staircase. "I do need somewhere to stay...and a bath..." Londae, despite seeming to know that I would ask for more, groaned loudly. "Besides," I continued, looking back to her with a grin of my own. "I don't think you're in any position to make me owe you anything since I could kill you as easily as I could kill a fly."

Her expression faltered into something akin to fear for all of a moment before she stood. "The bath is upstairs. There's a guest room next door to it."

I smiled and thanked her once more before bounding up the stairs, pulling the sword from my waist and shoving the door open to the bathroom. I set it down against the tub and started to strip my clothes, setting the new clothes all in the bag and putting it off to the side. Starting the water, I sat on the edge of the tub in all my naked glory and waited for the water to turn into a decent temperature before lowering myself into it.

A knock on the door interrupted the bliss I reached quickly. I opened an eye to the door and saw Londae poke her head in. "Just so you know," She began, sounding rather angry and scared at the same time. "I don't need to be afraid of you because one wrong move and I can go to the King and let him know that you threatened my life and that's the only reason I helped you."

And she was gone just as quick as she had come.

Once alone again, I sunk lower into the steaming water until the only thing visible was from my nose up. These were the first times that I was using my status as a pirate to intimidate someone, and I liked it a little more than I should have. Maybe those two years in captivity changed me a lot, but I think it was for the better, because if this was how people felt when they instilled fear into others to get what they want, then I didn't want to go back to how I used to be.

* * *

**[A/N]: Well, hope you liked it. Please review, favorite, and recommend to your friends.**

**Love you all and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXo**


	6. Traps and Strings

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Wake up you good for nothing pirate boy." I was well aware that Londae was addressing me, namely because all week I had been referred to as 'pirate boy', and she was kicking my foot in attempts to wake me, but I ignored her. It was too early to wake up, and I was exhausted from all the walking I had been doing yesterday while I explored the island. In response to her trying to wake me, I grumbled and tucked my head under the pillow.

Londae gave a groan of her own and the next time she spoke, her voice was much closer than before. "This is serious, pirate. You need to get up _now._"

The urgency in her voice was enough to get my eyes open, noting that she was squatting by my head and frowning. "What's wrong?" I started to sit up, wiping the drool that had trailed to my chin. Londae cringed at the sight and leaned away, giving me enough room to actually sit and look at her from a normal angle that wouldn't hurt my eyes.

Looking to the clock, I wasn't surprised to see that it was just after six in the morning.

"You have to get out of here now." Londae urged, standing up and grabbing my arm, dragging me from the nest of blankets that had been my bed for the past week I had been in her home. I said nothing as she pulled me into her room and threw my dress, cape, and shoes in my direction, a silent order to put them on. "Hurry up, pirate! You don't have time to waste!"

At the evident fear in her voice, I quickly shed the sleep wear that I had donned and shrugged the dress up over my body, strapping the heels to my feet and tying the cape around my shoulders. "Are you going to tell me _why _I need to get out of here?"

Londae thrust my sheathed blade into my arms, grabbing the hood to my cape from behind my shoulders and pulling it over my head. "His Majesty is coming."

_His Majesty…_

"Why the hell is Joker coming _here? _To _your _house?" She turned her head away, moving to her doorway. She didn't turn fast enough for me to miss the nervous biting of her lip. "You told him." When she didn't deny it, I tightened my grip on my sword and grit my teeth together in frustration. An odd sense of betrayal fell over my shoulders. "Why the hell did you do _that?_"

She whirled on me, grabbing a newspaper from seemingly out of nowhere, and shoving it in my face. It was dated a week ago-the day after my actions with the Raze Pirates. It had come out in the morning. In big bold letters, my name and the announcement of my 'return from the dead' was spread across the top of the front page. Beneath it was a blurry and extremely out of focus picture of me, in the middle of swiping my blade against someone.

Reading on, I barely noticed that the Raze Pirates were mentioned once, but not Hazel specifically, before Londae started talking again.

"His Majesty tracked down these Raze Pirates, and they were all too willing to give him the information he needed on where they dropped you off at." Of course they were willing to throw me under the rug. Hazel hadn't gotten the bounty increase she was hoping for, and of course I was held responsible for it. "He knows that you're here, so you have to hurry and get out of the house and _run._"

But something wasn't adding up here. Over the course of the past week, Londae had made it abundantly clear that she had no desire to help me any more than I was forcing her to. She made it clear that she hated me with every ounce of hatred that her body could produce. She already admitted to telling him I was here in her house, so why try to help me? Why, after all of that, was she letting me know that her King was coming here? Why did she want me to get out of here safely? Why did she care if I was killed or not, when I had been nothing more than a thorn in her side since we met?

_And how does Joker know where you are?_

That metaphorical light bulb went off over my head as I focused back on the woman, watching her stand nervously by the top of the staircase, urging me hurry up with dramatic hand motions. Her eyes, those weird eyes, widened when I spoke into the silence of the house, and I knew I was right in my conclusion.

"This is a trap."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the door downstairs sounded as if it had been blown in by a very powerful kick or punch. Londae jumped, startled, and made a move to run down to where the noise came from, but I was faster than she was. Just as her heel dug into the floor and she faced the stairs, I darted forward and grabbed her hair, pulling her back into the bedroom and shutting the door behind me, throwing her behind me and pushing her vanity desk in front of the door.

Turning to the woman, I looked just in time to dodge the throwing knives that imbedded into the wall behind me, just where my head had been a moment ago. I glared at the offending knives, turning my gaze to her and unsheathing my blade. Her eyes were hard. She was determined.

"I should have seen this coming from the start." I mumbled to myself, kind of angry that I put even an ounce of trust in the woman before me. Behind me, the door thumped. Someone had tried to kick it in. "Was this the plan from the start? You only pretended to fear me to that you could turn me in to Joker?"

Her eyes stayed on the door, looking hopeful that whoever was behind it would kick it in and save her, but as soon as I asked my question, her eyes moved to me and she snorted. "No, I truly did fear you." _At least she's honest about it. _"But, His Majesty returned yesterday and offered to anyone who could bring you to him alive your bounty." _Still have no idea what that is. _"I went forward, we hashed out a plan, and now it's panning out."

"Except it's _not _quite working how you thought it would because I figured it out before you could carry it through all the way...or even half way, for that matter."

At that, Londae had nothing to say.

The door behind me was kicking once more, the vanity desk skidding across the floor a few centimeters, the door opening a crack. I had to get out of here.

I turned to Londae, and quicker than she could react, unsheathed my blade and leapt forward, thrusting the blade into her stomach with one hard push. Her eyes widened even more than they had earlier, blood escaping the corner of her lips as she looked down at the blade sticking through her. I felt only a moment of guilt as her eyes looked back up at me, turning blank and dark before she sagged against my body.

My foot came up and I kicked under where the blade stuck into her stomach, pushing her off my blade and letting the body fall to the ground with a heavy thump. Outside the door, things went eerily still.

"Yo, Londae, is everything alright in there?"

The voice was decidedly male, and more concerned than I think he should have been. I saw my killing Londae as doing her a favour. She wasn't a part of the Donquixote Family, so her helping me before would have been seen as betrayal to Joker, not matter what she would have done to make it up to him. He would have her help bring me in, and then turn around and kill her brutally. I had seen him once before briefly with Mihawk, and that was the kind of man I saw him as. Though, I could be wrong and he could have actually forgave her and things would have worked out.

Well, better safe than sorry.

The voice of the man sounded out again, louder and more concerned than the first time. I debated on whether or not I should just deal with him now, but considered what would happen if I did. Needlessly killing was something that I wanted to avoid. The guilt over killing Londae was already eating away slowly at me, and I didn't need to add another body to my count. However, I could just kill him and escape from here faster without the immediate threat of someone coming after me if I just hop out the window now. And I mean, come on. Could this guy really be that big of a deal? He was still struggling with kicking the door open, and he was alone. Did he really pose too much of a threat for someone like me?

And then the second voice sounded from behind the door, and my decision was made when my feet instinctively carried me to the window and I opened it, jumping out just in time for the door to the bedroom to be kicked open and the two men to discover the body of Londae, as well as the end of my escape.

Airborn for all of two seconds, I landed gracefully on the ground, surprising even myself, and took off at a sprint. I chanced a glance over my shoulder to the open window and sighed in relief when I saw that neither of the men had stuck their heads out yet to see me. Turning back to face what was in front of me, I sharply turned into an alley, slowed to a casual walk, and emerged onto the street, walking with one man in front of me, and a couple behind me consisting of a tall toy person and a man. I pulled the hood securely over my head and walked as normally as I could, working to catch my breath.

Breathing in deeply through my nose, my lungs filled with air and my rapidly beating heart slowed down considerably. I dispelled the air through my lips just as the door to Londae's house flew open, revealing two men of normal stature and angry faces. The man in front of me had to dodge them as they ran down the street, splitting up in order to search for me.

As soon as I couldn't see them anymore, I sighed heavily and let out a shaky laugh. The sword in my hand, which was momentarily forgotten, was no heavy in my relief. How had they not seen it? And why were they running in those directions when I could very well have just hidden in the alleys behind Londae's house?

So many unanswered questions that I didn't have time to ponder as I hurriedly walked forward, bypassing the man in front of me. Right now, I needed to head somewhere that not a lot of people would find me. Sure, I could head to another town, or even hide closer to the enemy, as surely they wouldn't look for me so close by, but I didn't really like either of those plans. Instead, I made my way to the rocky cove that I arrived at a week ago, in hopes that I could hide out there until everything blew over or I found a way off this place.

_If only I knew how to swim…_

I made my way through the alleys, walking as fast as I dared so as not to draw attention to myself. The morning air was crisp, and there weren't many people around, giving the usually bright and vibrant town a dull and dangerous feel in the grayness. Thankfully, the journey to the edge of town didn't take long with my hurried steps and I was able to slow down once more and work on calming my heart.

Remembering from the last time I had been here, I travelled to the path that lead easily between the areas on either sides of the tall slippery rocks. Taking deliberate steps through the path, looking over my shoulder and gripping my sword in my hand, I must have looked the picture of complete and utter paranoia. And given the circumstances of me even being out here, my paranoia wasn't unwarranted.

I stopped in the middle of the path and my hair stood on end. It was something that I sense, not through Haki or anything like that, but it was the feeling one gets when they have eyes on them, watching their every move. My heart slowly worked up to a fast beat and my palms slicked with sweat. Something bad was about to happen at any moment, and I could only do one thing to prevent it.

_Joker._

The sound of amused and sinister laughter reached my ears from behind. I didn't hesitate in pulling out my sword from the sheath, but I didn't attack the man behind me. Instead, I turned the blade inward and started to arc it towards my stomach, intent on driving it through my body as I had done Londae not too long ago.

With the blade mere centimeters from my stomach, my movements halted. I gritted my teeth against the invisible restraints, forcing myself not to cry out at the feeling of these restraints biting into my skin. What the hell was this?

"Ah, Mara, what do you think you're doing?"

Clear as day, Joker's voice rang out in my ear. I tried to turn my head to look at the man, but these restrained prevented even that. I looked as far as I could with my eyes, catching a shocking pink in my peripheral before he stepped in front of me in all his open-shirt glory. I narrowed my eyes when he squatted to level his face with my own.

My fear of the man was present, but I choked it down to reply, hiding said fear with sarcasm-a feat that wasn't always the smartest. "Oh ya know, I was just wondering what it would be like to get stabbed. But you ruined my experiment."

His grin in return turned my blood cold. I couldn't see his eyes through those sunglasses, but he was clearly planning something if that grin was anything to go by. The only question was; what _was _he planning?

* * *

**[A/N]: Goodbye Londae, and hello Doffy~**

**I promise, I will get things kicked into gear and make everything more exciting soon enough. But of course, things in my fic are _very _different from Canon events, so I need to make things clear and find reasons for everything that happens so that this can kind of follow the same story line as the Manga/Anime. Again, I know it's going kind of slow, but I'm trying guys, so give me some credit.**

**And hopefully Mara's not too...well, _annoying. _I've gotten a complaint already that she turned very Mary Sue-ish after the two years (which I don't see, but to each his own I guess). I've tried to develop her character, but maybe I'm not doing good enough? I dunno, but of course, over the course of the fic, you will all find out why she acts the way she does now. Just be patient.**

**AND I've blabbed on long enough. Love you all and see you soon~!**

**XoXoXoXo**


	7. The Bait

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Little known fact: Doflamingo's room smelled like mothballs and expensive cologne. It was a smell that I automatically associated with old men who were affiliated with gangs. The smell oddly enough reminded me of Gramps and the old mayor from Foosha, Woop Slap.

Another fact: Doflamingo was incredibly confident with his Devil Fruit powers. After tying me up at the rocks with his strings, my body was forced to walk alongside his, parading me down the streets for all to see and congratulate their King for 'saving the day'. Of course I fought his hold on me the whole walk to his palace, but it didn't do me any good. His confidence wasn't without reason because his powers really _were _that good, and I couldn't do more than grumble under my breath and shout at him if I was feeling particularly brave. Which, in all honesty, I wasn't feeling brave after I first mouthed off and he tightened the string around my neck until my breathing was cut off completely to the point where I almost blacked out.

In the short amount of time I spent with him, I now knew for sure that I was scared of him for a reason. He never stopped that smiling bullshit that he had going on, and it pissed me off more than when Luffy used to wrap his rubbery arms around me as a kid and dangle from the side of the bridge to get something that he dropped. And that was saying something.

"You better stop struggling, squirt. You'll only end up hurting yourself."

I looked up from the chair I had been in for the past ten minutes, stilling instantly. I had been unaware that I was even moving around, but I guess it was my subconscious telling me that I needed to get away from here as fast as I could. Doflamingo leaned over me with his hand resting on the back of the chair, his grin widening, if that was even possible, stretching quite literally from ear to ear.

My breath caught in my throat when I looked past those glasses and saw the burning rage in his eyes. "Am I pissing you off, Joker?"

Tilting his head back, I lost sight of his eyes when the sun glinted off the lenses of his glasses, and that grin dropped a fraction of an inch. "Not you." He chuckled and stepped away, walking to a Den-Den Mushi resting on a table too far away for me to notice any details on it. Though, from here, it appeared to be wearing a hat. I glared at his back while he stood before the snail, as if debating on whether or not he should call whoever he was going to call. Or maybe he was _waiting _for a call.

_Puru, puru...puru, puru...puru, puru…_

I jerked in my seat when the snail began to ring, only kept in the chair because of the strings that were still wound around every inch of my body. After a few more rings of the snail, my head began to pound and my chest hurt from the frustration that Doflamingo _would not pick up. _I mean, if he was waiting for the call, wouldn't he want to pick it up faster than this?

"Yo, Joker, you gonna pick that up or let it ring forever?"

A sharp, slicing pain around my neck shut me up, though I continued to glare at his back and noted that his fingers moved around just as the pain came. Perhaps if I could cut his fingers off, I wouldn't have to worry about these strings…

"It's me." His voice rang out in the room, having finally answered the Den-Den Mushi, his tone serious enough to make me stop glaring and listen intently to what he was saying. "I resigned from the Shichibukai."

My heart stopped and my eyes widened. It was at that moment that I heard the faint sounds of people shouting, probably having gotten the news after Doflamingo was safe behind his palace walls. But what could have prompted him to relinquish his status as Shichibukai? If he did that, then he surely couldn't be the King of Dressrosa anymore, could he? So what was he doing? And why?

Almost as soon as Doflamingo spoke, voices rang out on the other end of the line, painfully familiar.

"He picked up!" Sounding surprised.

"Picked up!" Sounding terrified.

"Finally!" Sounding surprised, terrified, and a bit exasperated.

Three voices that I hadn't heard in so long, the sounds of them bringing tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. They made it back together. Well, hopefully all of them did, but at least I knew that these three were safe together.

I looked back to Doflamingo and saw his large hand tighten on the receiver.

As soon as I opened my mouth to speak about his tenseness, another voice rang out from the other end.

"_Doflamingo!"_

My heart skipped a beat and a tear trickled down my cheek. _He was safe. _He sounded incredibly angry when saying Joker's name, and I was simply surprised that he could say it. But one thing concerned me with all of this.

Why were the Straw Hats getting involved with Doflamingo? And why did Luffy sound like the man had done something to personally offend him?

It wasn't long before that sweet voice was speaking loudly again through the receiver. "Hello? I'm Monkey D. Luffy! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

_Leave it to Luffy to say too much at once…_

A loud bang, and someone yelling at him that he 'told him to shut up' revealed that yet another Straw Hat was safe. That added up to five total.

"Oi, Mingo!" I snapped my head back up when Luffy yelled again, opening my mouth to say something, but deciding against it. If he heard my voice, he would definitely come. Right now, there was a chance that he wouldn't mess around with Joker anymore. "Are you stupid, old Caesar's boss?! He gave Brownbeard and the children hell! We will give you back Caesar as we promised, but if you do that again, I will beat the hell outta you!"

_Caesar? Brownbeard? Children? Promises? What the hell was going on? What was this idiot thinking, getting involved with shady people like him?!_

I struggled in my chair and opened my mouth to warn Lu, but was promptly silenced when my jaw was forced closed by those damn strings, nearly biting off my own tongue if I hadn't moved it away fast enough.

The grin on Doflamingo's face when he turned slightly to look at me over his shoulder gave me a chill. "Straw Hat Luffy." I glared and tried to open my jaw, only hurting myself and popping my ears from the effort. "You went away for two years after the War. You were missing when the news about your sister swept across the world." That grin widened and the sun glinted off the lenses of his glasses. "Where were you and what were you doing?"

"I shouldn't tell anyone about it!"

Doflamingo chuckled and turned to face me completely, leaning back against the table that the snail was on, blocking it completely from my view, even though I couldn't see it anyway and it made no difference. "I wanted to see you."

_What?_

"What?"

He cocked his head to the side and twirled the fingers of his free hand around. My legs twitched and I was forced to stand, walking closer to him until I was face-to-chest with the man, cringing inwardly (since I couldn't move) when he put his arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his side.

"I have something that you'll want very badly now."

My blood ran cold when I figured out what was going on. Joker's plan from the moment he found out I was here on this island. He must have already had some deal going on with Luffy when he heard that I was here, so it only made sense to lure my younger brother here with me as the bait. If Luffy knew I was alive, I had no doubt that he would do everything in his power to come and save me, even if I told him not to and that he shouldn't get mixed up with this guy.

Desperately, I tried to open my mouth to say something - to warn Luffy that he _should not _under _any circumstances _come to this island and do anything stupid. Tears of frustration started to roll down my cheeks, only to be wiped away by Doflamingo's fingers. I sneered at the contact and slid my eyes over to my sword, which rested against the chair I had been sitting in. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to move so I could-

"H-hey," Luffy sounded just as desperate as I felt, and I wondered if, during my thinking, did Doflamingo tell him that he had me? And was Luffy so filled with emotions that he wasn't going to think clearly and- "How delicious is that meat you're talking about?"

It was at that moment that I figured out that Joker said nothing about my being here, and Luffy was as simple minded as he had been two years ago. My struggling ceased for a moment while I lamented how incredibly dense my younger brother was.

"Straw Hat-ya! Don't get drawn into his pace!"

It was this new voice that brought the most emotions with it. Strong emotions that sunk my heart and made bile rose to my throat. Memoried flitted across my brain of infirmary visits, being forced to reveal things about myself, and laying in the grass completely naked. Another chill ran down my spine, but this time, it was a good kind of chill. He sounded the same, yet different. I felt my heart hammering in my chest, and I was sure that if I looked down, I would see my dress moving with each rapid heart beat.

Doflamingo noticed my sudden mood change, because he dug his fingers painfully into my shoulder and allowed me to look up to see his grinning face. I was vaguely aware that Luffy was in the background, counting chunks of meat as if he was in some sort of fantasy world, and Usopp trying to snap him out of it.

"Joker! Cut the crap!" Law's voice rang out once more over the ruckus in the background on his end, sounding just as annoyed as I remembered him to sound when the Heart Pirates would fool around during a serious time. "We'll hand Caesar over to you as we promised."

_Wait a damn second! Just what the hell was Law doing with the Straw Hats anyway?_

Doflamingo chuckled softly, the sound unheard, but I felt his chest rumble against the side of my head, reminding me that I was way too close to this man at the moment. "Well, that's for your own good. If you try to run away with him, you know what will happen to you guys." He laughed again and leaned against the table once more, pulling me into a 'comfortable' position, pressing me against his chest with his hand firmly against my stomach. "Now, can I hear my precious business partner's voice?"

"Joker! I'm sorry! You resigned from the Shichibukai for me!"

"Did you hear him?" Law sounded vaguely annoyed by the man who had just spoken, who I had to assume was Caesar.

Doflamingo's response and whatever was said after that went unheard by me because I was busy concentrating on opening my jaw to speak to the people on the other end of the line. If I could just calm down and concentrate hard enough, perhaps I could break free from these stupid strings. Maybe Mihawk's old breathing techniques could come in handy.

I closed my eyes and tuned everything out, only focusing on the strings that were wound around my face. I breathed deeply through my nose, gathering as much air as I could, and let it out slowly. Doflamingo's hand twitched against my stomach and he chuckled again. I repeated my breathing until my lips parted, a movement that was small, but gave me all the hope I needed. My heart slowed down as I breathed deeply and went into a state of relaxation, despite the situation I was in.

Feeling rushed when I heard the shout of 'just hang up' from the other end, I opened my eyes and barely got the first syllable of Luffy's name before the snail went back to sleep and I was left alone in the room with the ex-Shichibukai.

Doflamingo chuckled and moved away, revealed the snail wearing the furry spotted hat and tattoo of the familiar Jolly Roger on it's chest.

"We'll need to put you somewhere for the next eight hours." I flicked my gaze to the man who had moved in front of me and put his finger to his chin, looking at me from behind his glasses. "I can't stay, and I can't leave you here to cause trouble or escape, so..."

Seemingly out of nowhere, a woman clad in a thong bikini walked from a door to my left and approached with a set of handcuffs. I knew that they were sea stone simply because that would be the logical thing to restrain me with.

She stepped towards me, all too confident in her King, err, _ex_-King's abilities to keep me restrained, and put the cuffs over my stuck out hands. She stepped to Joker's side quickly and watched me. When I offered no reaction to the sea stone, she looked confused, while he laughed loudly.

"Oh, that's interesting! Perhaps we should have a conversation before I head out!"

I sneered, thankful that those stupid strings were no longer wrapped around my body. "Perhaps not, ass-hat."

And I found myself an hour later, arms and throat covered with thin slices from the strings for mouthing off, in a dungeon-esque room, handcuffed and waiting 'until further notice' while he went to 'make preparations'. I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) to find that I was not alone in the dungeon-esque room, and my company didn't seem to be the talkative type.

He had said eight hours. Until what, I wasn't sure. But in eight hours, well, seven now, something would happen on this island that involved Luffy, his crew, Law, and Doflamingo.

* * *

**[A/N]: Okay guys, hopefully things will pick up pace from here on out since everything in the anime and manga started moving fast since the Straw Hats entered the New World. I'm trying to find my groove with putting the Donquixote family into the story, since I'm still not entirely sure how each of the important ones are, so you'll have to bear with me while I try to figure them out. (And if you want to offer any help of your own on how to get down their quirks, personality, etc then drop me a PM or leave it in a review and I'll appreciate you~)**

**Also, I start my classes tomorrow (thankfully they're online), so I'm still not sure how that will pan out with my updating and everything, so I apologize in advance, but education is important as shit.**

**Please leave reviews, critique my writing, favorite, and recommend to your friends!**

**Love you and see you soon~!**

**XoXoXoXo**


	8. Corrida Colosseum

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

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**Chapter Eight**

I hadn't sat in the room for too long before Doflamingo came back down, ensured that I was strung up with his strings securely, and brought me up to a room containing four chairs, one of which was empty. It was while he addressed the three other people in the room that I realized the empty chair was in the shape of a heart. I wasn't sure why, but that alone gave me a horrible feeling for what was to come.

During the small convincing argument between Doflamingo and one specific man, sitting in the chair with the diamond back, I looked around the room. The wall in front of the chairs was covered in windows. With an attempt to flick my fingers about, the thought of jumping from the windows as an escape quickly dissolved. If I couldn't move, how could I run?

My wandering eyes were invaded by a man pressing his face all too close to my own. I cringed and was shocked to see that I could move my head away from his. I tried my luck moving my body further, but had no such luck. Looking to Doflamingo, I saw that his fingers had flexed, allowing only this small amount of movement, probably from the '_kindness' _of his heart.

"So this is the Devil, _hm_?" He pressed his face closer. My feet took a forced step backwards, which I was grateful for, despite still being controlled by those strings. My eyes remained on the snot dripping from his nostril, careful to not let it fall on me when it swung freely in the air. "Why isn't she dead, Doffy?"

I snorted at the nickname for the man behind me, but sneered when this snot-nosed man pressed _even closer, _until I was quite literally backed up against Doflamingo's chest. "You're too close." I spoke through gritted teeth, now trying to move to the side and away from both of these men. This snotty man, however, clearly didn't care for my words, because he moved closer, saying something to Doflamingo, but I wasn't listening. A rage, white hot and burning, swept through my body, and I kicked my leg out, hitting this man square in the chest with the heel of my shoe, effectively knocking him back a few steps.

The strings tightened around my body and I was pulled back by my arm, held tight by Doflamingo's large hand. "Diamante, you should head to the Colosseum now. Everything will begin soon, and I'm sure the people would love to see the prize with their own eyes."

It was only when I was being shoved into a glass case fifteen minutes later, lined with sea stone (just in case) that I realized I had moved of my own free will. Somehow, my rage was enough to force myself to move, despite the strings wound around my legs. Looking down, lifting the bottom of this dress, I frowned at the thin slices along my thigh and shin of my right leg, the one that I had used to kick the snotty man. Doflamingo had lost control for a moment over a part of my body, and it was enough for him to reach out and grab me physically, not relying on his Fruit.

This small tidbit of information, though it was useless at the moment, was enough to make a smile come to my face as the glass case was shut and locked.

"I don't know what you're smiling for." Diamante grinned from the other side of the glass, looming over me in a way that was still threatening, though he was, as I said, on the other side of the glass. "As soon as I win, I'll be able to kill you as slowly as I want."

My ear perked up and my heart sunk, but I kept smiling. "Is that the goal of this? Whoever wins this _thing, _they get to kill me?"

His grin widened and he started away, two women in bikinis and gladiator helmets coming to stand on either side of the case with stern looks on their faces. I watched and strained to listen to the words he exchanged with a man who had been approaching, knowing it was nothing good when this man looked between me and Diamante with evident fear and understanding.

Turning to the girl on the left of the glass case, I leaned closer and hissed to get her attention. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Excuse me?"

"Where am I? What's all of this?" I waved my arms around over my head, flicking my gaze to Diamante to ensure he wasn't looking. "Where are we going?"

The girl looked past me to the other girl, and they communicated through a series of shrugs, deliberate looks, and blinks. It was the girl on my right who answered, speaking low and leaning closer to the side of the case.

"You're in the Colosseum. It's a Battle Royale. As soon as Gatz is ready, we'll roll you out into the center of the Colosseum and reveal you. Whoever wins gets to do whatever they want with you."

I hummed and moved away as the man, Gatz I believe, walked over, pulling a large purple sheet from over a crate and mumbling to himself. So the whole goal wasn't that whoever wins would kill me, for their pleasure and Doflamingo's, but to essentially keep me as a slave if they so desired, doing as they wish. In all honesty, I kind of hope that Diamante or someone with his same goal wins and kills me, so I won't have to be a slave of any sort. Definitely not a _sex slave. _I shudder at the thought.

Gatz offered no words, simply threw the sheet over the glass case. With my view blocked from everything by the darkness, I began to feel claustrophobic, my breathing coming out in short, quick gasps. I clutched at my chest and tried to slow my breathing, succeeding when I noticed that the sheet left a thin line at the bottom of the glass, allowing some light to shine in on my feet.

While I looked at my feet, I made the decision to take my shoes off. When whoever wins this thing _actually wins, _they'll have to let me out of this case. I may be handcuffed, but I wasn't going down without a fight of my own, and if I wore heels, then it would be even more disastrous than it already will be with me in a dress with no weapons.

The glass prison I was in started to move. I wouldn't have known where to if it hadn't been for the girl telling me what would happen. Small holes lines the very top of the glass case all around, providing the air that I was breathing. These small holes allowed sounds and smells to come into the case. It wasn't much, but from what I could hear, this is what people really like around here, as the cheering was almost too loud. From the smell, I could infer that not a lot of people made it out of here alive, the scent of old blood heavy in the air the further the glass case was rolled.

With every step from the three people surrounding my glass case, the cheers got louder and the smell got more potent. I took a deep breath, pressing my mouth as close to the holes as I could, trying to catch my breath around the smell and lack of air in my prison.

I had my mouth near one of the holes when we stopped, my nose pressing too hard into the glass from the suddenness of it. I glared at the wall of purple curtain, in what I hope was the direction of the three who were wheeling me around. Stepping back to the center of the case, I kicked my shoes into the corner and cocked a hip, crossing my arms under my breasts and trying my best to look confident. My unveiling was no doubt happening at any minute, and I had no desire to look like a coward and afraid.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and toys!" The voice came from somewhere in front of me. Gatz, perhaps, hyping up the people who were cheering even louder now that we were in the open. "What you will see today is one hell of an event!" Whistles, noise-makers, and screams from the excite people who, from the sounds of it, were all around the place where we stood, assuring me that we were definitely in a Colosseum, as Doflamingo mentioned earlier. "The King has offered us this great prize for todays event!"

Another bout of cheering before he continued. "Two years ago, in the Horona Coast Incident, a woman was killed! This woman was known by pirates and Marines alike as The Devil, Panther D. Mara!" Now the cheers turned into something akin to confusion and disbelief, as they anticipated what he would reveal to be beneath the sheet. "She escaped an execution in the nick of time and infiltrated Marineford to fight and save the son of the Pirate King, Ace, alongside the son of Dragon, Monkey D. Luffy! However," A hush went through the arena, not exactly silent, but a loud collection of whispers and assumptions. "This woman did not die as the world thought!" Cries of outrage and calls to stop lying. I smirked, ducking my head for my hair to hide my face. "Look!"

With this order from Gatz, the sheet was gripped hear my head, ripped off the case, and revealed me to the hundreds, maybe thousands of people sitting in the arena. The cheers were now a mix of confused, excited, and outraged, all mixing together to come to a volume that popped my ears and almost made me cringe. I looked up, flicking my hair out of my face with a jerk of my head, and swept my eyes over the people. Some were shocked. Some were elated. Many were overjoyed, for reasons that I didn't want to think about. I fixed my face in a neutral expression, wishing that I had the sword by my side once again, wondering if I could just kick the glass out and make a run for it.

"This winner will get this pirate!" I flocked my gaze to Gatz, who was continuing to fulfill his role as the hypeman and gesturing grandly to where I stood in my prison. "To do as they please!" He gesture one arm out in a grand move and threw his head back, howling out his last words to the people, eliciting the loudest cheer yet. "Mara 'The Devil'!"

I pursed my lips and glanced to my left, where one bikini girl stood, carefully keeping a smile on her face and ignoring me completely. Looking to my right, I saw bikini girl number two doing the exact same thing. Getting help from them was a lost cause.

Whatever words Gatz shouted to the audience next were lost to me as I caught the eyes of one man in the crowd. Well, I guess that's not entirely correct. Even from this far, and his eyes barely opened, I could tell he was blind. Scars covered his face. He wore purple amongst a sea of people in more neutral colors, making him all the more easy to spot among the people. The person next to him, dwarfed by his seemingly giant stature, was shaking and worried. Who were these men? Why were they the only ones _not _cheering?

No more time was given to analyze and dwell as the sheet was thrown back over my case and I was wheeled once again, my claustrophobia coming back suddenly and in full force. I moved forward and pressed my mouth as close as possible to the holes once more, breathing deeply to get rid of the feeling of lack of air.

The walk until we stopped again was considerably shorter than the last walk, which lead me to believe that we went to a completely different place. I waited patiently, backing up from the glass to look less desperate for fresh air than I really was. Mumbling voices beside me offered no information, as they talked too low to pick up any of the conversation. Gatz gripped the sheet with his fist, up high again, said something sharply to someone, and ripped the sheet away.

He turned and looked at me for the first time, eyes flicking to the shoes I had kicked to the corner before looking back to my face. I raised my eyebrows at him. He did the same to me. "How are you alive?"

"Why do you care?" I countered, leaning my side against the glass and tilting my head.

Gatz shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. "Curious."

"And why would I tell you?"

He stared at me for a moment longer, shrugging and turning away, whispering something to one of the bikini girls before moving out of a door on the far wall. The girl he spoke to looked back at me, gathering some materials from a table, and nodding to the other girl. I a raised an eyebrow, my curiosity piqued when they turned back to me, clutching some things to their chests.

My mouth opened to question them, but then they placed everything on the table beside my case, my questions died instantly. Handcuffs, painfully obvious to be seastone, and a large chain. Upon seeing the second item, I looked to the area I had seen one of the girls jerk her head to, noting the smaller chains coming from the wall. There was no more confusion. I knew what was going on before one of them spoke.

"Don't try anything." She warned, grabbing the lock of the case in one hand, holding the key in her other hand. I held up my own hands in surrender, smirking at the woman. Her eyes narrowed as the other woman came up beside her, brandishing a gun. This had me come to the decision that I would _not _try anything, but my smirk wouldn't drop, because if it did, then I would look scared.

She stuck the key in the lock, turned it quickly, and moved to the side, pulling the glass open and giving the other girl full access to me with the barrel of the pistol. My hands stayed up while the handcuffs were grabbed and I was ushered from the case. It didn't take her long to pull my hands behind my back, the cuffs locking in place tightly. It had me wondering just how many times they handcuffed people in their lives.

Next was the chain, attached to the handcuffs as I was shoved to the wall. Clearly, I had wrongly assumed that these girls were nicer than they really were. The large chain was attached to the smaller chains in record time, and I was stuck. The girls stepped away and moved back to the table, conversing quietly while gesturing wildly with their hands. I looked behind me and tried to gauge the length of the chain. In my standing position, it didn't even come close to dipping down to touch the ground. I took some steps forward and frowned when I found that I could only come about four feet from the wall before the chains were completely straight, running out of slack.

Sighing heavily, I turned to the women, both looking at me dubiously, the one holding the pistol tightly in her hand once again. I shrugged and moved back, leaning my back against the wall and tilting my head to look at the ceiling. "I was just testing the waters, no need to worry."

They offered no words as they searched the room thoroughly, giving satisfied nods before heading out the door. It shut with a loud _bang _and the clicking of heavy locks followed shortly after. I counted three deadbolts, then a chain being wrapped around it. They were definitely not kidding about their security. I listened to the sounds of their heels clicking away from the room, leaving me, once again, in a room alone. Still a prisoner of Doflamingo.

This time, however, would be considerably more uncomfortable than my last time locked in a room with handcuffs. I clearly couldn't sit, for my arms would be pulled up behind my back, in a position that could break them, or at least pull muscles. I also didn't have company, and even though the guy in the last room had no words to share with me, it was still nice and comforting to know that someone else was there with me and we were both in almost the same predicament. And I didn't know how long I would be in here. Last time I was given an approximated time span, but now, I was just having to wait it out, left in a timeless state.

Lastly, this situation was more nerve wracking. I knew what was waiting for me afterwards. Someone was going to kill everyone else, if my understanding of the term 'battle royale' was correct, and they would 'win' me as a prize. I was a fucking _prize. _Like, there is nothing more demeaning to a human being than being thought of as a _prize. _And who knows what this winner would do once they got me? There were countless possible outcomes, and none of them looked promising for me. It wasn't like someone was going to win me, be kind, and release me immediately afterwards. That wasn't ideal in this world.

By the end of this, it was sure that I would be a slave or dead.

* * *

**[A/N]: About my Personal Life: So...my classes started on the 25th, and I'm already tired of them. Yeah, they're online, but that doesn't mean I don't have due dates. Thankfully, History is self paced, so I don't have set due dates, but recommended ones, and as long as I get it all done by the time my class ends and it's done in order, everything will be cool. But my Algebra class is a while different story! I took a preliminary quiz and got 5.5 out of 20 correct (thank the Lord in Heaven _that _wasn't for a grade!) I'm also extremely happy that my friend had the History textbook that I needed, so I didn't have to waste $100-200 of my financial aid money on one from the bookstore!**

**About the Story: I'm trying, guys. I really am. I want thing to be interesting and action-y, I really do. I'm working. Please forgive! Hopefully I can update soon, but with school and shit, no promises. Please review, let me know what you like, what you hate, and give honest opinions on how this is turning out.**

**I love you guys and will see you soon~!**

**XoXoXoXo**


	9. Waiting

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOW OWN ONE PIECE**

**Btw, this is the longest chapter so far at 4,859 words!**

**Also, just wanna remind you all that this fic isn't exactly following canon events (obviously, since Ace is alive and the prize is different), but it's just a friendly reminder that the Dressrosa Arc as you know it in the Anime/Manga is going to be different in this fic. Not entirely different, but elements _WILL_ be changed. So if something is different, even slightly from the Anime/Manga, then just assume that I did that on purpose.**

**Thank you for your time~**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

The silence of the room was interrupted by an involuntary grunt of effort. I sighed, stretching one leg as far as I could, the muscles in my thigh pulling painfully from the movement. My arms pulled on the chains, my shoulders burning in protest. Toes flexed, curling and uncurling in quick succession, as if it would help further my reach in some way. My ankle bumped into the corner of the crate, knocking it only a half a centimeter closer, but that half a centimeter was all I needed.

With the new closeness of the crate, I gripped the rope spun around the side of it with my toes and bent my knee, pulling the thing even closer. I grinned, rather proud of myself, and got it close enough that I could back up a little and not have the chains pulling tightly against my wrists. I kicked the crate under me, plopping on the top ungracefully, sweating slightly from my efforts.

_Finally!_

There was no way to tell how long I had been standing against the wall of the room. It could have been a few minutes, or even an hour, but what did I know? Without a clock or a window to show the sun, I was useless. The damp air and abundance of dust floating around was making my throat hurt, and I hoped that I wouldn't be stuck here much longer.

Sitting on the crate, I peered around the room once more, in a considerably more comfortable position. On the far wall, right in front of me, was the big door that had been locked to keep me in, and keep others out. Beside the door was a sort of coat rack, holding a large coat on one of the protrusions. AGainst the wall to the right of me rested the table that the girls had gotten the handcuffs from. I couldn't get a closer look at the table, since I was clearly chained to the wall and could hardly walk a few feet before being tugged back, and the lighting wasn't the greatest. I knew for sure that there was a small Visual Den-Den Mushi resting atop the table, broadcasting the tournament in the Colosseum ring against the wall as it happened, left behind by Diamante after he came to visit me soon after the bikini girls left.

"_Doffy says you can watch the tournament and see who gets to take you away as soon as they win. Exciting, isn't it?"_

I wanted to punch him in his stupid smug painted face.

The glass case that I arrived in was sitting against the wall that I leaned against, wide open with the sheet still pulled over the top. To my left was a smaller table, just out of reach even if I stretched my legs and feet past their limits, holding absolutely nothing on top. The front sort of faced away from me, but I could see the handle of a drawer. My imagination conjured up all sorts of things that the drawer could hold, but it didn't matter, as I couldn't reach it.

Besides these things and myself, the room was empty. I found myself humming songs to pass the time as I observed the sparse contents of the room, pointedly trying to ignore the projected video on the wall across from me. Tapping my fingers against the wall behind me to the beat in my head, my feet tapping against the concrete floor in no particular feet, toes constantly curling and uncurling. However, no matter how hard I tried, my eyes wandered to the images of the fighting involuntarily.

Fighting in the ring now were the competitors of Block A, or, what was left of them after fighting for a while. Most of them looked absolutely insane and strong for no reason, and I found myself wondering why the hell they were all competing to win _me. _Had I done something to personally offend some of them? Did they really not care what the prize was and just wanted to get known as a winner?

In any case, as I watched wide eyed, a man wearing a paper bag over his head was _destroying _everyone else in the ring. One after another, they were thrown out of the ring to the fighting fish that stayed in the water surrounding the ring. It hurt me physically to look at. Not because the competitors were getting hurt, but because with every person that lost, the closer my doom was. It was a sick, twisted countdown to my own demise. ANd that was probably what Diamante and Doflamingo had in mind when they decided to let me watch the spectacle.

He spared no one. Even, I noted, the few female competitors that were trying to get the upper hand in the fight between them and Paper Bag Man. He kicked and punched and did whatever he had to do to win. He seemed to really _want _to win. Gatz's commentary of the fighting was annoying, but bearable.

It didn't take much longer for everyone in the ring to be down for the count, Paper Bag Man raising his arms as the spectators cheered for the winner. I frowned, not really liking that _this guy _was making it to the finals.

Then he threw the paper bag off of his head and revealed his face, and I wanted to scream in frustration. None other than Jesus Burgess, a member of the goddamn Blackbeard Pirates, was Paper Bag Man. My heart sank and I felt like kicking someone. What the hell did he want to win me for? Was this a plan by Blackbeard himself? Was it payback for saving Ace's life during the War?

The conversation I had with the Marines before I left Horona two years ago came back to me and I froze. I had been enlisted to take down Teach alongside the Marines, as revenge for Pops on my part. Did Teach find out about it? _Was he the one that was behind my kidnapping and treatment the past to years?_

Gatz's voice cut through my musings, louder than I would have liked, announcing that the battle of Block B would start momentarily. He went on and on, announcing the big competitors that would come out with Block B, stating who was most likely to win of all 138 participants. (That number blew my mind, and the fact that there were just as many in Blocks A, C, and D was unfathomable.)

Sometimes, when the sound of the video wasn't too loud, I could hear that there were people outside the door, most likely guards in case anyone tried to come down and steal the big 'prize'. The only thing I could hear were mumbles and annoyed sighs, but it was obvious that they were there, and my chances of getting out of here alive were getting lower and lower.

I sighed heavily and leaned my head forward, chin touching my chest, listening out for the start of the Block B match. Who would have thought that I would be defeated by fights that I wasn't even directly involved in? I was completely defeated, unless some miracle happened and I made it out with a Prince Charming who let me go free after winning. This sucked more than anything I can remember happening to me. I went through two years of absolute hell, only to get done in _here_, of all places. I dealt with the Raze Pirates for days to die _here. _I dealt with that annoying dancer girl Londae for an entire week, to be dealt with myself so quickly and completely by _Doflamingo. _

I went through all of that bullshit to rely on a fucking _miracle?_

This was truly pathetic. _I_ was pathetic.

I sat back and glanced lazily at the projected images of Block B competitors entering the ring, intent on watching who all was fighting here and paying attention to who would probably win. It was then that the people outside the door made themselves more known by yelling out all of a sudden.

"Oi, who are you?!"

"You can't come down this way!"

"Sir, please turn around or we'll be forced to take you down!"

Three different voices rang out loudly. Three different guards outside the door. This information didn't do me much good, unless I could get out of here and get my hands on a weapon. Maybe the coat rack could be used as a weapon? It was big enough, and looked like it could get the job done, and I had used weirder objects as weapons in the past.

"Ah, sorry, I must have gotten turned around." The voice that responded to the guards seemed genuinely sorry and confused by the harsh reactions he received for having some too close to the door. I deadpanned at his words though. He got turned around? I'm sure they have some signs that read 'Authorized Personnel Only' surrounding the area, don't they? "Hey, whattya got back there?"

The voice of the curious passerby seemed to have gotten closer, and I couldn't help but think he was talking louder than normal. Like he _wanted _me to hear him. But that was ridiculous. I'm sure only Doflamingo and his men knew that I was in this specific room. The only way this guy could know was if he was a member of the Donquixote Family, and then, he wouldn't question what was in this room, would he? But, if he did know I was here, and he wasn't a part of the Family, then he must have some pretty good surveillance of the area going on that even Diamante couldn't detect.

I'm confusing myself.

"Sir!"

The guard seemed increasingly more angry, but when the guy responded, he didn't seem to have a care in the world. "Oh, come on, you can tell me! Hey, it's that prize that's in there, huh?" He was met with silence, and I wondered if I yelled out now, what would happen. If this guy was a competitor, he could easily take out the guards and take me without much effort. So, maybe yelling out wasn't a good idea.

"Sir, if you don't get back to the lobby now, you'll be disqualified from the tournament!"

"Okay, okay!" In my head, I imagined the guy holding his hands up in surrender with a smile on his face. "I'm going..."

And the silence from the other side of the door returned, just like that. I frowned at the tone the guy used before he left. '_I'm going'. _It was left unsaid, but '_I'll be back' _had to be tacked on to the end of that statement. It just seemed like that was what he was trying to say. He had left the statement hanging in the air. Did he mean he would win for sure? And if that's what he meant, just who the hell was that guy?

"_Now, the next competitor to enter is a latecomer! He's in Block B, too!"_

I turned back to the Colosseum ring, realizing with a start that the ring had been almost completely filled with the participants in Block B. Clearly, I had missed nearly all of the introductions of the big fighters, and that was a problem. Now, I could see a tall silhouette walking out of the archway, moving across the walkway. I couldn't see much yet, but as Gatz spoke, more and more of this latecomer was revealed.

"_It only took him a year to become infamous and enter the New World! An incomparably brutal and crazy rookie! He roasted some pirates on a skewer and shared the video! And he also bombed some innocent civilians! He ranked number one in the 'most annoying pirate who should just go away' competition! A pirate - Bartolomeo!"_

The guy struck a pose, and I was speechless, my mouth hanging open because of two things. First, his introduction into the arena showed that this guy was brutal. Like, Eustass Kidd brutal. They were kindred spirits. Secondly, he looked...well… Okay, the guy had a lot of green hair, the style sort of rooster-ish, and wore ridiculous purple and yellow diamond pants, a large purple coat, and the biggest fucking fanged teeth I had ever seen on a human being. It was also pretty obvious that he was very tall, even not being near him I could tell that.

As the crowd began to boo this Bartolomeo guy, he suggested that they all go to hell. I smirked at his attitude and shook my head. He was amusing. And then he pulled something from his pocket and threw it towards the stands. The people, in a panic, screaming 'bomb' as the thing he threw came their way, scrambled to get away. I heard the screams and nearly fell off of my crate in anticipation. What the hell was this guy doing?! Throwing bombs into the crowd?!

I sunk back against the wall when this 'bomb' was revealed to simply be a ball. Now I openly laughed at this, and laughed a little more when the people, angry at the trick, started to throw trash at the green haired rooster. He had made all those assholes in the stands watching people kill each other like it's a game look like idiots, and I liked that.

The fight began with the sound of a gong and everyone went at each other like animals. Swords clashed, kicks were delivered, punches that sent people sprawling - it was madness. if I had really paid attention during the entire first match with Block A, I'm sure I wouldn't have been so surprised, but seeing all of this made me cringe, and once again question why the hell these people were so hellbent on winning me in the first place.

Gatz pointed out every interesting fight as it happened, the screen flicking between fights of men who looked determined. One man with long legs was kicking everyone down without much effort. A pair of men were taking others down in quick succession, eliciting more cheers from the excited audience.

One man with spring-like Devil Fruit power, announced by Gatz as a man with Doflamingo, Bellamy. I frowned at the familiar name, turning my gaze downwards and biting my lip in thought. Where had I heard the name Bellamy before? It hadn't been recently. It had to have been a long time ago...but from who?

"_...and there was this annoying guy that stole all the old man's gold and I had to go fight him for it and he had stupid springs and he was really fast and..."_

Of course, i had heard it a long time ago from Luffy while I was recuperating in the infirmary of the Thousand Sunny after being saved by his crew from being executed. He got the name wrong several times before Nami had helpfully supplied the correct name, looked angry at the mere mention of the man that had embarrassed her all that time ago. So that guy in the ring now was the one that Luffy…

"Holy shit, Luffy!" I sat up straight on the crate, the chains pulling at my wrists painfully but I ignored it at the moment. Luffy was coming to Dressrosa! Hell, he was probably already here by now! How could I forget something as important as that? With everything that had been going on all day, I completely forgotten that my little idiot brother had gotten involved with the ex-Shichibukai Doflamingo. Clearly, if I hadn't misinterpreted his intentions, Doflamingo was taunting them to come to the island and find out about my position as a prize of the Colosseum. This had to be some sort of trap by the bird man, as he seemed pretty fond of traps today. And why would he let them go after the returned this Ceasar character to him? If anything, he'll kill them as soon as they step foot on the island.

My heart sunk and my head dropped chin touching to my chest again. There was nothing I could do to save them now. Even as I thought about it right now, I tried to free my wrists from the handcuffs, only succeeding in scraping the metal against my skin.

"This is so fucking _stupid!_" I yelled, all my frustrations of the past twenty four hours, no, the past _week _coming up in full force. My chest burned with anger and my eyes stung with unshed tears. "That damn Joker with his stupid Devil Fruit and sticking me in stupid fucking rooms!" I vented to both the walls and the guards outside my door, sure that they could hear my yelling, slapping my bare feet against the floor in a childish looking tantrum. "Making me too him things and putting that idiot in danger! I'll kill him! I'll get outta here and kill him!" How I was going to do these things was still a mystery, but I would be damned if I didn't.

My ranting went on for another few minutes, spewing different threats and descriptive details about how I would kill Doflamingo. The sounds of the fighting from the Colosseum ring was lost to my anger, drowned out by my shouts and feet kicking against the side of the crate. It had just been a long day. I was tired. I was pissed. I wanted to know if Luffy was okay.

I wanted to know why, as my eyes went back to the projections, that rooster guy Bartolomeo was peeing off the side of the ring into the water without a care in the world. I happened to see this mid-shout, and my sudden silence confused the guards outside the door. They knocked to make sure I was even still alive, calling out to me. When I laughed at the sight of this guy peeing while in the middle of these fights, the guards got pissed and said that I was annoying, but I couldn't help it. Yeah, this guy was scary looking, and the things he did have been less than pleasant, according to Gatz, but he was _funny. _And I dont even think he's _intentionally _being funny, and that makes it even better!

After laughing for a while at that, and seeing that the guy with the boxing gloves and weird chin was done doing whatever he was doing, I noticed the sounds outside the door. The sounds of a struggle. It wasn't that odd, as the three men out there had wrestled around more than once for various reasons, but this time it was different. There were pained moans accompanying the struggling. Shouts that had been for help, cut off short by the horrifying sound of metal slamming against flesh.

My heart raced. I tried to listen passed the sounds of the fighting from the projection, but some things were lost to me, as I had no way of turning it down. I twisted my wrists every which way, trying desperately to get my hands free from these damn cuffs. That guy had clearly come back, and he was here for _me. _I knew he knew what was in here. I knew he would be back. ANd now he was here, and he was going to claim the prize (me) without having to do all the hard work for it.

I stood from the crate as I heard the chain fall from the door to the floor, rattling loudly against the concrete. Moving quickly, I stood my ground behind the crate, placing my foot against the side and staring intently at the door. If I was fast enough, maybe I could do something to this guy and get away after he freed me from the wall. I could definitely get away with handcuffs on my wrists if I wanted it bad enough.

And boy, did I want it.

The blood rushing through my veins was loud in my ears as the locks were undone. My breathing became labored and I needed to focus on my breathing for a moment before I passed out. Breathe in through my nose, out through my mouth. Repeat until I get enough oxygen to my brain. _Don't fucking pass out, Mara!_

It felt like time was moving slower just to build up the tension in my chest. The fear that was taking over was completely unreal. It was the most fear I had felt in a long time. The last time I felt something so raw and uncomfortable was when Kaeli had killed our parents and brothers, and she was coming towards me with that look in her eyes. That murderous look. With the matches and container of gasoline. It felt like the past was repeating itself when the door opened. It felt like I was about to experience near death once again. And so soon after everything that happened on the Coast of Horona…

I panicked when the door finally opened to reveal the man wearing gladiator type clothing, dressed very much like the rest of the competitors on the projection a few feet from him. I didn't think before kicking my foot out, sending the crate sliding into his shin, knocking him back a few feet, cursing myself for doing it after it had been done. If he really was here to claim the prize, he was definitely going to kill me now. All hope of him being a good guy vanishing. He wouldn't spare me now, if he was going to before. I was a goner. My heart hurt and I looked around for something to help me fend him off.

When my foot hooked around the leg of the table nearby, he spoke up. "Wait, wait wait! Stop kicking things at me, idiot!"

I lifted my eyes back to him and froze, really taking in his appearance now. I frowned at the gold helmet on his head, covering his hair to the point that I could just barely see a little bit of blond. The obvious fake beard covering the majority of his face. The scar visible around his left eye, not covered very well by his sunglasses. The painted on X-shaped scar that covered his chest. The lame flower-patterned shirt.

In the background, I barely noticed that Bartolomeo had been announced the winner of Block B, the majority of the crown groaning at the outcome.

As the guy lifted his arms in surrender and put the pipe down against the wall, he spoke again, carefully and slowly, like he was addressing a wounded animal, which I'm sure I resembled at the moment. "You remember me, right Mar?" He grinned helpfully.

And it all came clicked in that moment. The simple sound of my shortened name coming from his mouth, the name that those close to me used, was all it took, and I came undone. I felt weak and happy and sad all at the same time. My hands shook behind my back, out of sight of the man who had been nothing but a memory the past twelve years of of my life. A ghost. With the swell of emotions, I thought for a moment that this couldn't be real. He wasn't really there. This was a dream of some sort, and I had just fallen asleep on the crate as I waited for the Block B fight to conclude.

But even as I stumbled forward and got a little closer to him, I knew that wasn't the case. This was real. He was standing right in front of me, solid and _real. _Solid and _alive. _Visions from the past played in the back of my mind. The mountainous landscape in which we grew up. The treehouse that somehow stood up all those years. The four cups of Sake that had been exchanged. The pirates we had faced. The fire. The explosion that supposedly took his life all those years ago. The pain of losing him. The pain of hearing Ace and Luffy cry for so long and so hard. Hurting for so long while the three of us carried on his will in our own ways.

Now, it seemed like all of that had been a dream. All those nights in that very treehouse, remembering how close he had slept to Luffy, how his legs usually draped over my stomach because he shifted so much while he slept. It all seemed like those painful memories we shared over him were false. This was the reality, but the pain wasn't much better. It hurt more to see him alive than it did to think of him as dead. The pain of the latter having been numbed by the passing years.

It was so obvious now that he was alive and here in front of me. It felt silly that I had thought him dead in the first place. Like I should have known that he was alive this entire time, but I didn't, and that was what brought the tears to my eyes while he moved to stand closer, holding up the key to the chains and handcuffs, his grin never wavering. A flurry of strangled noises and half formed words escaped my lips, but my vocal chords couldn't seem to form proper words.

"A lot of shit is happening on this island, Mara, and I'm not sure how you fit into all of it, but you're a part of it because Doflamingo set you up as the prize. I need to make it quick, filling you in that is, and then you need to get outta here, okay?" He didn't give me time to answer. "Luffy and his crew are here, scattered around the island. I think they're here with Trafalgar Law, but I can't be sure if the papers were telling the truth."

"I..."

"I'm going to send you out of the Colosseum in just a second, don't worry." The chain clattered to the floor behind me. I jumped at the sound. "I have a friend waiting just outside this wall here," He gestured to the wall behind me. I opened my mouth to try to speak again, but he barrelled on. "She can instruct you on where to go next, 'cause I've been in here too long to know the situation outside. You'll need to hide your face, since everyone knows you're supposed to be in here, and if you're seen, then this will all be for nothing."

The handcuffs were pulled from my wrists and he moved in front of me, not even sparing me a glance as he threw the cuffs down on the ground, moving to the coat rack to grab the sole garment from the hook. I rubbed my wrists and frowned, sputtering and trying to find words again, only coming up with more garbled noises and high pitched whines.

"You..."

He turned back just as I spoke up and strode over with the coat hanging from his arm. "Luffy joined the tournament. I'm taking his place so he can get things done on this island without worrying about you. I'm not sure all what's going on with him, but I know it's pretty big, and it has to deal with Doflamingo and what's going on with the Toys here." He chuckled to himself, tapping his earlobe after throwing the coat over my shoulders. "I've got ears everywhere on this island right now, so I've been pretty well informed up until a while ago when I came in here. Ah, but like I said, my friend can fill you in."

"Sabo..."

He didn't hear me as he turned to the wall he gestured to earlier, placing his palm flat against the surface and taking a deep breath. My knees wobbled and my palms felt sweaty. I felt lightheaded. His fingers clenched around the concrete, bits and piece falling around his feet. In a show of strength, he ripped the wall with his bare hand, a hole now in the concrete. A hole that was soon filled with the face of a girl, well, a woman. She wore a newsboy cap with goggles and had brown hair and dark eyes, navy blue in color from the looks of it.

She smiled at Sabo, then turned to smile at me. "Well, it looks like we're almost ready to go. Hurry up before someone comes." He finished tearing up the wall and ushered me out.

It happened too fast, but as soon as I was out in the open, I turned back to the open hole in the wall, watching his retreating figure move out the door. "Wait..." But he didn't hear me. He was already gone, presumably to find Luffy.

The woman introduced herself as Koala and began to give me a rundown of what I needed to do. I listened as well as I could, but my thoughts kept going back to Sabo, who was alive after all this time, and acted as if nothing had happened and he hadn't let the three of us believe he was dead for twelve years.

* * *

**[A/N]: Just so you know, this is the third version of this chapter, and they were all completely different (although Sabo did make an appearance in each one). I had everything planned out until Chapter Eleven, but then I changed my mind on how I want it to go, so I'm going back and making adjustments and completely scrapping some chapters, so it'll be longer before I can put out another chapter. (Sorry) But, the new route that I'm choosing is much better and less cliche than my first two options.**

**AND LEMME TEEELLL YOU! Writing an emotional scene is harder than I thought it would be! Like, oh my Lord Jesus, I was trying hard to make it emotional, and not melodramatic! So, I would really appreciate some feedback on that little reunion, if you guys would be so kind. And just review in general, letting me know what you think of the chapter overall! I would appreciate it and love you all even more!**

**But that's all I gotta say this time. Love you all, and see you soon~**

**XoXoXo**


	10. Deceit

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

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**Chapter Ten**

Outside of the Colosseum wasn't as chaotic as I expected. Once I pushed the thoughts of my long-thought dead older brother to the back of my mind, I looked around while Koala contacted someone through her Den-Den Mushi. I had assumed, based off of what Sabo was hinting at, that the people would be in more of a frenzy over what was happening. Especially since, as of this morning, their King was no longer their King. It was odd that everyone was acting so calm.

I had emerged from the Colosseum in a back alley, away from the eyes of the people. Koala moved with me to another alley further away to talk, and was thankful that these two had everything figured out, but that brought more questions that I needed answered.

"Hey, Koala?" The woman looked up after hanging up the snail, a pleasant smile on her face as she asked what was wrong, handing me a hair band when she noticed the state of my hair, which constantly fell into my eyes due to the insane length. As I tied my hair up at the top of my head, the familiar feel of the pile of hair making me smile, I continued to speak. "Who exactly are you?"

She frowned and put her finger to her chin, debating on whether or not she should tell me. "I guess it should be okay to tell you, since you're his sister after all, and he'll tell you on his own eventually." She came to her conclusion, that smile returning to her face, and I found myself wondering why she always smiled. I took a seat beside her on a crate while she answered my question. "Sabo and I are Revolutionaries."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded slowly, processing it. "You're...Revolutionaries." She nodded encouragingly, looking out of the mouth of the alley. "What are you here for?"

"I'm not sure I can tell you that." I nodded, understanding. I had met Revolutionaries before, and on many occasions, they couldn't reveal their work to others. Missions were top secret in more cases. It was just a _thing_ with them, I guess. "Now that you're out of the Colosseum, we need to keep you hidden - Sabo's orders." She added at my confused expression, standing from the crate with a smile. "I'm leaving you in the hands of one of Sabo's subordinates. He'll watch over you while I go do what I need to do."

As she spoke, she started away from the alley, leaving me to follow behind her, still confused at what was happening, but trusting that I could trust her, as she was with Sabo, and Sabo was...well, him. I had no reason _not _to trust him, except for the fact that he let us all believe he was dead for over a decade. _Asshole._

In the streets I held the coat tight around my body, ensuring the hood stayed well over my head, following Koala, who looked at ease to a passer by, but the tension showed she was ready for a fight if one came. "What am I going to be doing with this guy?" Would we be doing Revolutionary business, which I would be dragged along with? Or would we just wait somewhere safe until we needed to get more involved?

"He'll bring you to a secure location in town." We passed by a screen that showed the Colosseum fight, displaying that there were only two contenders left - 'Lucy' and a large man that Gatz commentated as Don Chinjao, another name that seemed familiar that I knew I heard a _long _time ago. But again, from who? And why?

She led me to another street, coming to a stop in front of a muscular man wearing sunglasses and a hat, keeping his head low and observing the children, adults, and toys meandering around the town. A large axe was strapped to his back, easily a foot taller than he, but no one gave it a second glance. A thin mustache over his upper lip caught my attention as he looked up, looking back down to meet Koala's gaze.

"The Marines are crawling around everywhere. You took a long time."

Koala seemed unaffected by the man's sharp tone, simply smiling and nodding, looking around at the Marines moving around the street. "Sabo took a little longer than he said he would getting her out. I think he was having problems fighting the guards." She shrugged and turned her attention back to the man. "You're taking over her protection now."

I grit my teeth and stepped forward, looking from Koala to the large man. "I don't need to be protected." I practically hissed at them through clenched teeth, shaking fists holding tightly to the coat over my chest. "It's ridiculous. I'm a pirate."

"A dead pirate." The man growled in response, though I think growling while talking was a normal thing for him. "Besides, it's Chief's orders, so I'm not gonna ignore them go easily, girl." I glared at the man, who returned the glare evenly before shooting his gaze to Koala. "Get going. I've got it covered."

The woman nodded and turned to me, putting her hand on my shoulder and ignoring my glare as she gave yet another smile. "Don't worry. Kureiji seems harsh, but he's a teddy bear underneath this tough exterior."

The man, Kureiji, turned beet red at this and straightened his back. "I said _go, _Koala."

And she did go, with a reassuring pat on my shoulder and a promise to see the both of us very soon, with a small reminder to Kureiji that he's supposed to stay by my side at all times, never letting me out of sight. I watched her move to the end of the street, stop to look around, and then disappear into an alley before I turned back to the giant man at my side.

Kureiji had his head down again, looking around at the Marines. I sidled closer to the man, leaning against the wall by his side and copying his position. "They're here for Joker, right?" It felt too dangerous to use the name Doflamingo. It would draw attention to us if someone heard.

"I see you're not exactly up to date with everything, are ya?" I glanced at him quickly, but he shook his head. "We can't talk here."

He pushed off the wall and started down the street in the opposite direction that Koala went. I watched him for a moment, wondering what he could be talking about before following after, moving fast to stand by his side instead of behind him. With him off the wall and standing straight, I found that he was easily two feet taller than me, probably taller than that rooster head Bartolomeo that won the Block B match, definitely more muscular than him. Scars littered his arms, ranging from slices of blades to burns.

_Burns...like the burn scar over Sabo's left eye._

My thoughts were consumed once again by my back-from-the-dead older brother. Had he caught up to Luffy yet? Probably not, since on the screen we just passed, it showed that Luffy, with the false name Lucy, as I discovered from his very obvious fighting style, was still fighting that Don Chinjao character. What would Luffy do when they met up? Would he be able to actually say something to Sabo that let him know how we felt after he died? Or would he be rendered speechless, as I had been?

One thing was certain where that blond idiot was concerned; as soon as I saw him again, I would tear him a new one. And in return, I'll allow him to do the same to me for my own little dying act not too long ago.

"Oi, you're mumbling to yourself, girl." I jumped at Kureishi's voice, my face heating with the realization that I had, indeed, been mumbling threats and curses to myself as we walked. "Do you always do that?"

I pursed my lips and sent a glare his way. "Shut up."

"We're here."

He stopped so suddenly on the street that I had accidentally kept walking ahead of him, having to backtrack a few steps as he opened the door to a very nondescript house nestles in the corner, hidden from the view on the street by a larger house. I followed him in, closing the door behind me, and stood by the door. There was nothing in the house that I had thought there would be. I expected high tech Den-Den Mushi that was recording conversations all over the island.

Instead, I got a normal looking kitchen, a normal looking living room area, and a hallway that looked like it lead to bedrooms. I followed the hallway while Kureiji sat at the table in the kitchen, dialing a number on his snail, more disappointed when I found one normal bedroom and a normal bathroom. Nothing out of place. Nothing that screamed 'Revolutionary hideout'.

With a sigh, I went into the bathroom, rummaged through the drawers and medicine cabinet before coming out with a hair band, tying my hair up on top of my head as I walked back down the hallway. He had just hung up the snail and turned to look out the window.

"You can see a screen from here. The Block C fight is almost over."

I almost asked how he knew that for sure, but remembered that was the Block that Luffy was fighting in. I went calmly to the table, taking a seat closest to the window he was looking out. The screen was situated a little ways down the street, but still visible at a slant from where we were positioned. I watched with a smile as Luffy came down on Don Chinjao with a large, Haki imbued fist, knocking the man down so hard that the entire ring cut in half. And the crowd went wild. And 'Lucy' was announced the winner of Block C. Gatz was so loud I could hear him from here.

Kureiji hummed from behind me, the sound of the chair squeaking as he leaned back overtaking the room.

"_Due to the strength that Lucy showcased, the ring is completely broken in half! The Block D Battle with start in fifteen minutes!"_

I turned around in my chair, resting my chin on the back of it, meeting Kureiji's eyes with my own, the sudden movement on my part startling the man. I smiled sweetly and cocked my head to the side. "So, how are we gonna pass the time?" He blew out air from his nose and turned away, looking out the window behind me, completely ignoring the question. "Come on, Kureiji-chan, we have fifteen minutes to pass and -"

"What the hell did you just call me?!"

His face was red again, turning a brilliant shade of crimson as he leaned forward at the table. I laughed and leaned away. "I just called you your name, you weirdo! Now, how should we pass the time, Kureiji-chan?"

"Call me that again and you'll pass the time with tape over your mouth sitting in the corner of the room." I held up my hands in surrender and leaned my chin against the back of the chair again, casting my eyes to the wall. "Besides, we need to talk, remember?"

Ah yes, the conversation that was started over the Marines! I sat up in the chair and gave him my full attention. "Yeah, what the hell do you mean they're not here for Doflamingo?"

He reached into his shirt and produced a newspaper, sliding it across the top of the table as he spoke. "It was all a lie." I read the headline and gasped, my mouth hanging open. "Doflamingo faked his resignation, more than likely to set the trap for the Straw Hats and Trafalgar Law and lure them here. We saw the CP-0 assholes leaving the island earlier, so I'm sure they had something to do with it."

I read through the entire article fixing the 'mistakenly printed' article from the morning announcing Doflamingo's resignation. As I read, I became more and more panicked by the thoughts that were invading my mind. I swallowed hard and spoke around the lump in my throat.

"So the Marines..."

"They're likely here because Doflamingo let them know about Straw Hat coming here. I'm sure they know about you, as well, which could be another reason." I looked up from the paper being crumbled between my hands and stared at him while he looked back out the window, his chin propped up on his wrist. "There are also a lot of big names fighting in the Colosseum. That's sure to draw the Marines to it, so they're waiting outside to capture them as they come out. Or at least, I think that's what they said."

My teeth grit together and I slammed the paper down. Kureiji lazily slid his eyes back to me. "This is bad though!" If they didn't know about Doflamingo's deceit yet, and they were going to hand Ceasar over, they were screwed. It made sense that Law would be the one to do it, as this seemed like something only he would drag the others into, and that made my chest hurt. "When did this paper come out?"

He cocked his head to the side in confusion. "It was a three o'clock special edition."

I closed my eyes and mentally calculated. I had been rudely awoken around six-thirty in the morning...a half an hour after that I was in that room, there was another hour that Doflamingo prodded information from me. Eight hours, he had said. Eight hours since that snail call, which happened at seven this morning.

_Eight hours...eight hours from seven in the morning is…_

"Dammit, that bastard had it all figured out, didn't he?!" I stood from the table and paced along span the kitchen and living room area. Kureiji stayed at the table, telling me to calm down and all sorts of other things, but I didn't listen.

My mind was preoccupied with the images of what Doflamingo could be doing to everyone right at this very moment. I only knew for sure the whereabouts of Luffy, and he was in a less-than-desirable position as it was. Who knew where the rest of the Straw Hats were? For all I knew, Doflamingo's men could have already caught them all! And if Law was handing over Ceasar at exactly three o'clock, then I'm sure he found out by now that Doflamingo lied.

_And where the hell were the Heart Pirates in all of this?!_

"Stop pacing, you're making my head hurt." I stopped at once, not because he told me to, but because I needed to stop and turn to face him and sneer. "There's nothing you can do right now. We have to wait it out."

I put my hands on my hips and frowned. "And what, pray tell, are we waiting for, Kureiji-chan?"

He jerked at the name, but answered nonetheless. "We're waiting for Sabo's orders."

"I don't have to listen to that asshole." I returned fiercely, marching to the table and putting my finger to his chest. "I'm not one of his subordinates or whatever. I'm not obligated to listen to him. Sure, he got me out of there, but after what he put us through, he has to do a helluva lot more to even get us even in the favors department." Kureiji kept his expression neutral as I ranted, leaning away from my finger, but to no avail. "I'm a _pirate. _I don't follow rules, which I'm sure you know and can identify with, Mister Revolutionary. If you think I'm going to sit around and wait for him to give _me _some goddamn _orders _then you're sorely mistaken!"

I was breathing hard by the end of it, my shoulder rising and falling with each ragged breath. Kureiji grabbed ahold of my wrist and forced me into the chair across from him, my back to the window. "Listen here you ungrateful brat," My eyes narrowed immediately, but he continued. "I don't care what the hell you are. You can be a goddamn mouse for all I care. If the Chief gives me orders, _I follow them. _I don't care if you want to be free, or whatever the hell you were just talking about because honestly, I was only half listening. But so long as I have orders to watch over you and keep you alive, I'll follow them, whether you like it or not. And as soon as my orders are carried out and the Chief gives me the okay, I'm never going to help you again, got it?"

A heavy and tense silence fell between the two of us. The only sound was both of our equally heavy breathing. My teeth grit together and his hold tightened on my wrist. From outside on the screen, the Block D battle was announced to begin in only a few moments. Competitors were already entering the newly fixed ring, from the sounds of it.

"I want to fight this every step of the way." I spoke into the silence, forcing myself to keep eye contact with the man. "But I know that would be stupid. I know that it wouldn't do anything to help the situation. And honestly, I'm hoping that if I cooperate, I'll be able to see Sabo very soon and give him a piece of my mind." Kureiji realized then that I wasn't going to try to leave, and he released my wrist, sitting back in his chair and keeping his eye on me. "And staying with you is way better than being alone again."

He hummed and looked back out the window while I lowered my head and stared at the wooden tabletop. I had meant it, too. Being with anyone was better than being alone. Well, anyone who wasn't going to try to kill me. Anyone but Doflamingo or his men.

"The fight started." Kureiji called out to me, bringing my eyes up to look at his bored expression as he watched the fight on the screen through the window. "Don't you wanna see who's gonna be in the running to claim you as their prize?"

I turned around in my chair and faced the screen, ignoring his chuckling behind me and watching as the last competitor walked in He was introduced as Cavendish of the White Horse. And he was a very beautiful man, both in looks and personality because the first thing he did when he came out was call out to everyone to stop jeering at the pretty pink haired gladiator girl, who was apparently someone very hated among literally everyone.

"Why don't they like her, Kureiji-chan?"

Kureiji grunted. "Who knows."

* * *

**[A/N]: We're getting there guys. The action packed fun will begin shortly, I promise. We need build up, though. And I need time to prepare myself to write bigger fight scenes, because ya girl needs practice. But it will all go down soon, rest assured.**

**And I know I haven't update in a forever, but I've been hella busy. Today is a break day from school because it's storming out and I can't seem to get myself to work on boring things, so I'm uploading this chapter only because of that. I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, so just..be ready I guess? I dunno..**

**So review, favorite, follow, and all that jazz so I can have the motivation to continue to publish this thang.**

**Love you all and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXo**


	11. Seeing You

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**I try guys. I truly do.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

It wasn't long before I lost interest in the Colosseum fight completely. If I had been stuck in that room still, I would have been paying attention so that I would know my fate. But now that I wasn't really a prisoner anymore, I couldn't find it in me to care all that much. If Doflamingo found me now, he wouldn't worry about putting me up as a prize. He would just kill me. So why would I care about the winner anymore? But that was only _if _he found me, and with Revolutionaries on my side, who I had heard were good at stealth and hiding, I was sure that there was a pretty okay chance that I wouldn't be found by the man.

And with that in mind, I tried to ease the newfound boredom and try to get information on what we would be doing.

"For the last time," Kureiji was saying, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his brows twitching in anger. "We're not going anywhere."

I frowned and leaned over the top of the table. "But Kureiji-chan! If Sabo already has a plan, then we might as well get it done now and - -"

"_And that's not my name!_"

He had finally snapped.

"I swear, if you don't _shut the hell up _and sit down," I sat, only because he had risen from his seat and was much taller than myself. He was also growing red in the face and I didn't want him to pop a blood vessel in his eye or something. "I _will _tie you up in the corner and put tape over your mouth. I don't know if you think we're friends or something, but we're not. You're nothing more than an object that I need to keep safe for a while. Like a fucking table. So shut up and don't ask me to leave again, understood?"

I pursed my lips and nodded, folding my arms over the tabletop and leaning my head down onto them. He sat back down and pulled out his Den-Den Mushi from inside his shirt, glancing at me once. I made eye contact and raised my brows. He stood from the table and moved to the back room, giving me a warning glare and one more threat to stay put and keep silent. I responded with a salute and huffed.

The boredom was horrible, true, but I was feeling a sense of...worthlessness while we sat in here and waited. Everyone else was out there doing something. _Usopp _was probably out there fighting someone right this moment. Nami too. And I was sitting here being babysat by a man that looked like he had lived in the mountains for years without any contact with the outside world. Hell, that's probably what happened to him, in all honesty.

But I wanted to help. I wanted to go out there with a sword and get into the thick of things. I wanted to bring down the enemy that everyone else was going after. Maybe not Doflamingo himself, since I clearly can't win against him, but _maybe _that Diamante asshole. Or that nasty snotty man. I just wanted to prove that despite being 'dead' for two years, I wasn't going to come back and be the weak Mara that I was before. I was new and better and stronger, and I wanted to prove it. Before I wouldn't have minded all too much being kept out of the fight, but now that I was back and had the chance to fight alongside some people who had been in my thoughts during my imprisonment, I was angry. More than angry. I was pissed. Heated. Absolutely - -

"Yo, get your shit together, we're heading out." I snapped my attention to Kureiji, standing immediately and thinking back to my countless attempts to get him to agree to even step out the front door. I raised a brow at him, but he didn't look as he was responding to someone on the other end of the snail. "We'll be there in a few minutes, depending on if she can keep up. Don't draw anymore attention to yourself. Stay safe."

He offered no explanation as he grabbed my upper arm and pulled me through the house to the back door, looking left and right and up and all around before even stepping out, keeping me close by while navigating the alleys and back streets. I wanted to ask questions, but I was busy look out as well, trying to make sure that no one came and sneak attacked. I had wanted to go outside, yes, but now that I was out, I was tense and unsure. Should I be out here? If I was caught, I'd be dead. If we were caught, could we get away? It depended on who caught us, but what if it was Doflamingo himself? Or one of those officers that he put a lot of confidence into?

"_Stop fucking mumbling to yourself."_

Kureiji jerked my arm back and flattened me against the wall beside him while a group of pirates ran by, boasting about how their captain would definitely win the tournament. I held my breath and watched them go, praying that they wouldn't notice the _huge fucking shadow _that was Kureiji, which was bound to draw attention at some point because he was lurking around in the shadows like a shady character.

As soon as it was clear, he dragged me out of the alley and we stalked down the street, for once not staying in the alleys, moving around people and trying not to look suspicious. I looked behind us, making sure no one was there, before looks back in front and digging my heels into the ground, a fear welling up in my chest. Kureiji stopped in confusion, tugging my arm and growing impatient.

"Why are you taking me back?"

The Colosseum wasn't far from where I had forced our stop, and as Kureiji looked between me and the building in question, he rolled his eyes and tugged harder on my arm, forcing my feet to stumble after him despite how desperately I tried to stand my ground. It turned into a game of tug-of-war with my own arm, my shoulder screaming in pain a few times as it felt like it was being torn from the socket. People on the street stopped and started to stare. Names were thrown between both Kureiji and myself. Two different people and a small group of toys walked forward and tried to stop the 'fight'.

"I'm not giving you back. We...have...to..." He gave one large tug and I lost my footing, falling to my knees and being dragged immediately afterwards down the street as fast as he could walk, the parts of my dress over my knees tearing. "We have to meet someone."

I slapped at his arm with my free hand and tried several times to stand, completely ignoring the man that was walking behind us and asking if I was alright. "I don't want to go near that place."

"We have to meet someone."

My eye twitched and I managed to get to my feet, glancing to my knees, now bleeding, as I responded. "I don't trust that they won't see me."

"They won't."

"But - -"

We stopped moving at the same time and looked to our lefts towards the sky. With my arm still gripped in his hand, and his hand coming to rest on the handle of the axe on his back, we watched as the building tops in the distance started being sliced off like butter. It was mesmerizing, to say the least, to see the tops of the buildings falling off, coming closer and closer and...closer…

The panic settled in at once, and it seems that Kureiji figured it out at the same time because his grip tightened ran towards the Colosseum, myself in tow, no longer fighting it. In fact, I was running by his side almost, listening to the destroyed buildings from close behind us, but not daring to look back and see _him._

"Run across here." Kureiji stopped and pulled me to a stop alongside him, pointing to where I needed to go, directly where a tall hooded figure was leaning against the side of a building a few buildings away from the Colosseum itself. "She's with us. You're her responsibility now, so...don't...what the fuck are they doing here?" I followed his down the ways from where we had stopped behind a building, seeing a large group of Marines posted up and conversing with one another.

I moved to make a remark about how he had said himself that the Marines would be here, so I didn't understand his confusion, when the slicing of the buildings came to a stop behind us. I looked back just in time to see something sail through the air towards the Colosseum, landing harshly against the ground just outside the building, in front of two people I hadn't seen before that were talking to a competitor inside the building. Smoke billowed up from the ground, and even from here, Kureiji and I coughed and covered our mouths.

The ensuing silence was tense. Civilians moved back from the crash landing object and exclaimed their confusion. I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to see through the dust and smoke, but ended up having to wait with everyone else to see what was there. The Marines moved closer, as Kureiji and I had unconsciously done until we were now hardly hidden from sight. The figure that we were meant to meet with had come from their hiding spot, looking around the corner of the building.

Not a moment later the dust cleared and I strained to see whatever had landed so hard against the ground. It seemed to be the shape of a body, and my stomach twisted and turned at the thought that someone was thrown such a distance.

"Doflamingo!"

A familiar voice and an oh so familiar name. I looked to the source of the voice in an attempt to see the rubber idiot, but upon doing that, I had inadvertently looked to see Doflamingo himself. He was standing before the fallen body, frowning hard, something I had never seen on the always grinning/smiling man.

"Tra-guy!"

The voice rang out again and my heart skipped a beat. I looked down to the body lying before Doflamingo and couldn't believe it that the bloody and broken and ultimately defeated man there was Trafalgar Law. I had never seen him so defeated in all the time that I knew him. It was evident that a fight had been going on between the two for quite some time. And seeing him lying there, breathing heavily and bloodied from multiple wounds, it made my chest hurt. My _heart _hurt.

"Stupid brat." My attention went back to Doflamingo as he mumbled. He was beyond pissed, and it was evident that it was because of whatever Law and the others were doing here. His arm moved slightly, and I looked down his arm to the gun in his hand.

_No._

"Oi, Tra-guy, what are you doing with Doflamingo…?"

A gunshot rang out in the middle of Luffy's question. Everyone in the area jumped at the sound. My hand moved to cover my mouth. A strangled scream worked up in my throat as Law's body flung backwards from the force of the bullet hitting his torso. Doflamingo said something else in the heavy silence, but my heart was hammering in my ears. In quick succession, two more shots were fired into Law's chest, and my knees felt weak.

At the same time that Luffy screamed out for his fallen comrade, I ripped my arm from Kureiji's hand and started forward, calling out the name of the fallen man as well. The only thing stopping me from running towards the shot man was Kureiji grabbing my arm again and holding me in place with considerable strength.

Thankfully, no one noticed us yet as Doflamingo looked to his people and explained that Law was responsible for the false report of his abandoning the throne this morning. "He was trying to drag me down." Doflamingo continued, his grin ever present once again. "But don't worry! I just got rid of him!"

A cheer swept through the crowd, relief coming in waves off the citizens that were thankful that their King had gotten rid of the thorn in his side known as Trafalgar Law. My legs shook and I gripped Kureiji's hand that was holding my arm, nails digging into the flesh of his fingers. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to go to Law and help him in anyway that I could. Like he had done for me. Like I _owe _to him.

From inside the Colosseum, Luffy's voice rang out once more, and I looked to him this time, noting that his rage was as great as mine, something I could see from even this far away. "Oi, Mingo! How dare you shoot Law!"

"Straw Hat," Doflamingo turned his head to him and grinned even wide. "It's none of your damn business. Law was originally my subordinate. Responsibility for dealing with him falls to me!"

My mind went blank and I struggled even harder. Law was his subordinate at some point? When was this? Was it recently? Was it a long time ago? Why would Law work under someone like _him_? Was he working under Doflamingo while I travelled with him? And if so, was him helping me back then something for Doflamingo himself?

"You gotta stop, girlie!" Kureiji jerked me back around the side of the building, out of sight of everyone but a few citizens if they looked over this way. I struggled and flung my arm out, striking the man in the face and kicking out, trying to relay to him that I _needed _to go to Law, but it was impossible to speak around the lump in my throat and the tears in my eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? We've worked hard to get you away and keep them from finding you and your gonna let our efforts go to waste? _Sabo's _efforts?"

I managed to choke down the tears and stop struggling enough to respond. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to. But..."

"I don't fucking care." Kureiji reached his hand forward and clamped it over my mouth when I moved to speak, effectively cutting off my breathing through my nose and mouth. "That guy out there is nothing to me. I don't care if he lives or dies, and quite frankly, if he wants to go up against Doflamingo directly, the idiot deserves to die. That's as stupid as going up against a Yonko, which, for some God forsaken reason, people are actually doing." I tried to stay calm through his rant, but I couldn't breathe, and he knew that, but didn't let go. "You're out responsibility. Not some random pirate. If he manages to get saved through all of this, the good for him, but it's not our priority. In fact, _you're _not our priority either. You're just - -"

A fourth gunshot rang out, followed by a hot, searing pain in my upper arm, which had moved out from behind the side of the building during my attempts to get away. Clearly visible from where Doflamingo and the Marines were standing.

Kureiji jerked his hand away in surprise. I stumbled out into the open from being suddenly let go, falling more out into the open. The citizens of Dressrosa noticed me for the first time and back away in fear, mumbling about how the prize of the Colosseum had gotten away. I look behind me in time to see Doflamingo re-cocking the gun and aiming it directly at me.

When the fifth shot of the day rang out, I started to dart back to hide to keep from being hit and dealt a similar fate to Law's. I didn't move fast enough, and I knew the bullet would hit me unless there was some divine intervention.

And, as Lady Luck had been on my side for a while now, she didn't disappoint now. Before the bullet could pierce my body, a tall, lanky figure appeared right beside me, putting their hand on my hand and shoving me to the ground. The bullet whizzed overhead. The air left my nose in one quick puff and I barely registered my name being called by Luffy.

"Take care of her, Morj!" Kureiji's voice sounded further away than it had been a moment ago. And as soon as he started to speak, the person that shoved me down picked me up around my waist and dragged me _towards _the man shooting at me.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Trust her girlie!"

"_Mara!_"

"Who?"

"Die, Devil!"

It happened fast, and it wasn't until I was flat against the ground with another body on top of mine, shielding me from the falling debris, that I realized fully what had happened.

The person who saved my skin, 'Morj', as Kureiji had called them, dragged me towards where Doflamingo was, moving so fast that this person dodged the bullets with ease. I was held to their torso the entire time, my feet well off the ground from their tall height. Were all Revolutionaries so tall? For some reason, when Doflamingo moved to just wind us up in his strings, it didn't work. The strings never met my skin at least, though I saw the sunlight gleaming off the strings as they moved closer to us.

Then this person stopped a few feet from Doflamingo's back, near where the Marines had moved, and slammed their fist into the ground, ripping it up similar to how Sabo ripped a hole in the wall at the Colosseum. And we were down the hole that this person made, twisting in midair so that I landed on top of the person staring up at the sky, until we were flipped not a second later so the falling rocks fell on their back.

And it was in that moment that I replayed those few seconds of dodging and falling in my head, simultaneously realizing that this person lying on top of me was a woman, if the lumps against the back of my neck were any indication.

I didn't have time to ponder it more as she slithered from my back, grabbing my arm and hauling me up, running down a tunnel underground. I followed, stumbling over my feet and cursing when I would trip over something in the darkness. Behind us, Marines were shouting and jumping in through the hole that she had made.

"They're chasing us." I informed through gasping breaths, looking over my shoulder at the approaching shadows, speaking as though she _hadn't _noticed it yet.

But she didn't respond verbally. I felt a hard tug on my arm and I was moved further ahead while she backtracked, standing to almost her full height while I turned back to look at what she was doing. I hadn't seen her move, probably because I blinked, but when I opened my eyes, she was simply gone, and I would have thought she had just disappeared and was a figment of my imagination if it weren't for the screaming and sounds of bodies falling from the direction of the Marines.

"Go back! Go back!"

"Just _shoot!_"

"Is that 'Mad Eye' Morjiana? What the hell is she doing here?"

The screams stopped as suddenly as they started, and the woman was back, grabbing onto my wrist and dragging me behind her. I didn't miss the whites of her teeth as she grinned, nor did I miss the warm and wet feeling of blood coating my wrist where her hand gripped.

It was impossible to tell how long we had been running or how much further we needed to go, and I found myself near tears on more than one occasion as I thought back to what had happened above ground. The sounds of the fighting up there was audible from where we were, and I could have sworn that the entire ground shook at one point. My emotions were at the tipping point and after all this time - - _after two fucking years _- - I see the people who had been consuming my thought during all my time alone. And I had to see them like that.

Luffy, locked up in some Colosseum fighting to the death for me. The guilt from that was enough. If I could, I would have screamed at him then and there, asking him what the hell he was thinking doing something so dangerous for someone like me. I would have hit him. I would have yelled. I would have cried. And I would have hugged him and kissed his head and told him how much I had missed him. How much I had hoped and prayed for his safety with no regard to my own. How much I had hoped to see him one last time, along with Ace. Told him how I wanted to go home. How I wanted to go and see Dadan and those stupid bandits that were our dysfunctional little family. How much I wanted to see Gramps again.

Then I saw Law and it was a completely different kind of pain and sadness and anger and other emotions that were so raw and so unidentifiable right now that I could only feel faint and shake. The man who had been something of a rock, keeping me tethered to my sanity during all the shit that happened two years ago. The man who hadn't been fazed by much, who managed to get out of everything unscathed. And he was injured like _that? _By Doflamingo, no less bleeding already before having three bullets lodged into his chest. Three bullets. The sound, of the bullets being short from the pistol and hitting his flesh...it was never going to go away. I would dream of it forever, just as I still remembered the sound and sight of Kaeli getting shot, and the sight of Ace and Luffy nearly dying during the War.

Before I could stop myself, tears trickled down my cheeks and I sucked in a breath, trying to stop the tears and discreetly wipe them before my companion noticed. We stopped not long after the first of my tears fell from my eyes, in the middle of these underground tunnels, at a sort of crossroads where light was provided from a lantern hanging from the wall. I looked at her back, only seeing a curly mess dark hair, the brown skin of her arms, and the armor she wore. Her shoulders hunched forward, more for necessity than naturally, because if she stood at her full height, her head would brush against the ceiling.

I prepared myself for her turning, wiping my tears hastily and trying to calm my heart, but she didn't turn around. She simply stared forward at the tunnel across from the one we came from, ready and waiting for anything that could happen. I was confused, honestly, until I realized that she was giving me a moment to compose myself before turning.

With a smile and a nod, I scrubbed my palms over my face and breathed heavily out of my nose, slapping my cheeks and giving myself a small pep talk.

_You'll make it. They'll make it. And when you see all of them, give 'em hell for being idiots and almost getting killed. And then let them give you hell for missing for two years._

"Where are we going?" I spoke out and moved slowly to stand by her side. She pointed down the tunnel she had been staring down. I nodded and looked at her from the corner of my eye. "So...you're Morjiana?" She only nodded. "I'm Mara." Again, she nodded. I pursed my lips and tried not to smile when I came to a conclusion. "You don't talk?"

Now, the woman looked down at me and grinned, revealing rows of sharp pointed teeth, like that of a shark, though she was no Fish Man. As she nodded, I moved my gaze to her eyes and realized immediately how she had gotten her name from the Marines. One eye was a light brown color while the other was a very light blue, looking almost like she was blind in that eye, but it was clear that she was not. If I remembered correctly from one time perusing one of Law's medical books one of the many times I did so, this was something called _heterochromia._

"Is it that you..._can't _talk?" She shook her head, turning back to the tunnel and walking ahead, jerking her head for me to follow. I did, continuing to play this game of questioning the silent woman so as to keep my mind from everything we left above ground. "So you _can _talk?" She nodded, her body language showing that she was amused by what I was going, and seemed to enjoy it. "Is it...that you don't like to talk?" Now she shrugged, taking a right and reaching back to make sure I followed.

I continued to question, going through at least twenty more before learning that she could indeed talk, but no one understood her. It was only a few more questions until I knew that she could only really speak in a dead language that not many understood anymore, and that she and Kureiji were partners. Not, like, _love _partners, but fighting partners. At one point she turned without any preamble and grabbed the bottom of my dress, ripping it all around clear up to mid-thigh, nodding at her handiwork and continuing on. I had to admit, it was much easier to move without the material tight over my legs.

Nothing else could be gathered from the woman, and the few times she tried to speak, I could only understand a few words with the help of her hand motions. And we didn't walk much longer until we came to the end of the tunnel where a wooden door stood. Morjiana urged me forward with an encouraging smile. Mouth closed.

"You're not coming?" She shook her head and held up a finger. "You'll be back later?" She titled one hand side-to-side. I pursed my lips and thought a moment. "You...will see me later? Somewhere else?" She nodded and clapped once, moving her hand forward to pat my head. Morjiana was a lot nicer than she looked, and it was endearing, in an odd sort of way. "Who's in here? People I know?" She began to nod, but then shrugged. _Maybe._

And she had to get going, patting my head once more and giving a thumbs up as she ran down a side tunnel in a manner resembling a panther. Graceful and quick. Beautiful.

I turned to the door and frowned. It was pretty terrifying, going into a room and not knowing what to expect, and not being able to ask because the one person with me couldn't speak and be understood clearly.

But I sucked it up and opened the door, coming in and stopping immediately at what I saw. All over the floor were...tiny people? And they were looking at me in absolute fear, all seeming to be frozen at the sight of someone like me. Normal height, that is. And as they readied their tiny weapons, despite me holding my hands up in surrender, the only thing that stopped them - - and stopped me from stomping on them - - was the sound of three voices, all familiar, coming out at the same time and sounding the appropriate sound of confusion and disbelief.

"_Mara?!_"

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**[A/N]: Slightly long chapter, but not super long, and I hope you guys didn't get bored. I'm trying to get it all together, so please don't hate me for boring parts! **

**Totally not sure when the next chapter will come out, as always, so just...ya know...expect it whenever I guess.**

**Okay, ya know, review and favorite and all that. Love you and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXoXo**


	12. SOP

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**This is my longest chapter so far...**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

The three of them looked so different after two years that I easily forgot about the small people standing around me as I walked closer, looking each of them up and down and truly convincing myself that it was _them._

Robin's hair had grown and, if it was possible, she got more beautiful than she had been before. It seemed that her skin had grown paler, though I could have been imagining things. She looks different, yet the same, and it relieved me. Usopp was the same as Robin, looking different, yet obviously the same person. He had beefed up over the two years, and though he seemed terrified at the moment, I was sure it was because of what was going on with this island. Or maybe it was seeing me. Who knows.

But the third person...it took me a moment too long to realize that this large, much more cyborg-like person was Franky, despite the fact that the voice matched what I had remembered. He had clearly gone through more changes than the other two, but after getting used to it, I was simply happy that I could see them.

As the four of us stood and stared, Robin was the first to recover, besides myself, and took a step forward, a small frown gracing her features. "Mara, how are you - -?"

"G-G-G-_Ghost!_"

And everything descended into chaos as soon as Usopp screamed and pointed at me. The long nosed man ran around and waved his arms in circles, slowly getting crosses and exorcism materials from seemingly out of nowhere. The small people, believing his accusation, ran around and screamed as well.

The only ones who weren't running and screaming and trying to ward me off with crosses and holy water were Franky, Robin, and a small toy soldier. The latter two were simply staring at me, but Franky, he was silently crying. The madness only stopped when the cyborg man sobbed loudly, effectively stunning everyone into silence, as he moved forward and grabbed me up in a hug, holding me to his chest and swinging around so my legs flew dangerously.

"Oh, Mara! I'm so glad you're safe!" Through his sobbed words, I caught that he had been with Luffy when they found out that I was the prize for the Colosseum battle, and ultimately helped Luffy sign up to participate. Then he met this toy soldier and now they were…

"Wait, you guys are going to _fight _Doflamingo and his men?" I jerked away from his arms and was set on my feet, staring incredulously at the group before me. The three pirates nodded and the soldier gave a loud affirmative, followed by the same affirmative from the small people. How could they be so stupid? Did they even know what happened to Law? What Doflamingo was capable of? "You can't win this." I said slowly, not sure if my words would piss them off or discourage them, but feeling that I had to let them know.

Robin's eyes moved to the lacerations on various parts of my body before meeting my eyes. "We can do something." To my surprise, Usopp was nodding along, though his knees were shaking.

I looked between the three of them, seeing nothing but determination in their eyes. Looking down, I noticed that the small people had the same look, and if that toy soldier wasn't made of tin, he would have the same look. Nonetheless, he just _oozed _determination.

Looking back to Robin, I sighed and scratched the back of my neck, reaching my hand up to finger the hair on top of my head. "How about you guys get me caught up and what's going on." She led me and the other two into a room, leaving it to Usopp to keep the small people away so we could talk in private. I barely hide time to look around the small, odd room resembling some small bit of an outside world before they began to speak.

And they told me everything. Well, Robin spoke most of the time, keeping everything clear and to the facts. Usopp had tried to romanticize every detail, making his stories revolve around him and his bravery. Franky constantly broke down in tears, and more than once, I had to listen to their recent adventures from the arms of the cyborg. It didn't bother me, as I was too transfixed on everything that Robin was telling me.

I learned of their trip to Fish Man Island, which I was insanely jealous of, as I had never been able to go. Of them saving King Neptune and everyone else from the New Fish Man Pirates. Big Mom being made their enemy because Luffy couldn't keep his nose out of other people's business. And how that new feud was coming back to haunt them now as Sanji and the group he was travelling with were being attacked by the Big Mom Pirates as we spoke. The Marines they had faced upon emerging from the waters after leaving Fish Man Island.

The arrival on Punk Hazard, which involved Robin and Usopp themselves, alongside Luffy and Zoro killing and eating a dragon of all things. A Samurai, chopped into pieces, looking for his son Momonosuke, which turned out to be one of the many kidnapped children that were on the island. Usopp fearfully tells that the Samurai had been cut up by Law, and instead of joining in the fear, I laughed. Robin continued to tell of the giant children who were being fed poisonous candy by Caesar Clown, the mastermind behind most everything on Punk Hazard. This cleared up my earlier confusion from the conversation I had been present for between Doflamingo and Luffy this morning.

They all chipped in at the end to fill me in very seriously with everything that they were involved in now. The G-5 Marines, now working under Vice Admiral Smoked, who were probably responsible for the Marines coming to Dressrosa now. The now dead harpy Monet and pirate Vergo who had been disguised as an Admiral, both working under Doflamingo when they were alive. The SMILE and SAD factories, one already destroyed while the other was hidden on this island to be destroyed very soon. The Yonko Kaido, King of Beasts. The alliance.

By the end of the recounting, I was silent, leaning against the wall and looking down at my feet, my head shaking back and forth as I turned all this new information over in my head. It was bad. Worse than I thought. And so many people were involved, and so many lives, that the end result was looking even more grim in my head. "Alright," I spoked into the silence, my voice oddly subdued as I nodded once more and looked up to the three Straw Hats. "So you guys let an idiot form an alliance with another idiot, and now you're dealing with a third and _very dangerous _idiot." I tilted my head back against the wall and let out a shaky breath. "This seems a whole lot worse than that snail call made it seem."

"Snail call?" Usopp repeated, cocking his head to the side in confusion and looking up at me from his seated position on the floor. I only nodded, closing my eyes against the oncoming headache forming between my eyes. A gasp sounded when Usopp realized what I meant. "You were there? When we called him?"

Again, I nodded, opening my eyes and looking at the three of them. "I tried to speak up and warn you guys _not _to come, but that asshole makes it hard to speak when he uses his Devil Fruit powers."

"You were the Colosseum prize." Robin didn't seem as shocked, but she was confused.

When I went to answer, Franky did before I could. "Yup." The other two questioned why he hadn't said anything about me to them sooner, and he shook his head. "It occurred to me that maybe it _was _a trap to lead Luffy to the Colosseum to be killed, and that maybe they didn't really have Mara. I didn't want to say anything to get hopes up only for them to be crushed."

A sudden thought struck me and I jerked up straight. "You know about the situation up there right?"

"With Tra-guy being shot?" Usopp confirmed, and I nodded. "Yeah, we were all talking to each other. Sanji's group is heading to Zo and fending off Big Mom, and we'll meet up later." _If we all survive this. _"Luffy's trying to find a way out of the Colosseum now to go save Tra-guy."

I frowned and shook my head, remembering some words that Diamante shared with me earlier. "_If _he can get out. They said that once you're in, you don't get out. He'll have a hard time."

"But we believe in our captain." Robin assured with a small smile, and I had to agree, I had faith in Luffy and I believed in him...but there were some things that couldn't be done.

The toy soldier and the dwarf people were invited into the room, where they all went over their plan, and I listened intently as I could. My mind wandered more than once, but a sharp jab from Usopp's elbow brought my attention back to the planning. I listened to the majority of Operation SOP until I became too confused to follow.

"Wait a second." I lifted myself from the wall and looked between everyone, who already seeming informed of the imprisoned dwarves and toys that were once humans. "What the hell is up with this place?" I was given a quick explanation of the goings on of Dressrosa for the past years: Doflamingo stealing the throne from King Riku, who was still alive somewhere, the changing of people into toys for some purpose, causing everyone around them to lose any memories of them. The segregation between those who opposed Doflamingo and those who supported him. Everything that was wrong with this country which appeared happy on the surface, but harbored a dark history and filled with pain, even now. "This sounds very familiar..." I mumbled, thinking back to Goa Kingdom and drawing the similarities.

Usopp gave me a look, but the Soldier was talking again, concluding the plan.

"No one can predict what's gonna happen in Dressrosa ten or more minutes in the future." He commanded the attention of everyone in the room, and I wondered if he was come kind of military man when he was a human. "So there is one thing that needs to be done first!" We all fidgeted while he spoke. What more was there? "One of Doflamingo's subordinates turned us into toys. We have to knock out this Hobby-Hobby Fruit Eater!"

A silence enveloped the room for all of a moment before Usopp spoke up, voice shaking. "H-Hobby-Hobby Fruit?"

"You can imagine what will happen then." The Soldier responded.

Robin, from beside me, got it before the rest of us. "Oh! It will break the spell?!"

"That's right!" The Soldier lifted his small tin arms and imaged played in my mind as he spoke. "All the toys in Dressrosa will changed back into their human forms at once! And everybody will get their lost memories back at the same time! We can't predict what will happen after that!"

I puffed air from my mouth and mumbled under my breath, unheard by anyone. "Fucking chaos is what'll happen."

"How many people will fight together with us?" The Soldier proposed. "What will people think and what action will they take? What will Doflamingo do? What will the Marines do? The only thing that's for sure is that the country will briefly destabilize!"

Usopp stepped forward and pointed a finger at the Soldier. "Where is the Hobby-Hobby Fruit eater now? He or she must be strong, huh?"

"According to Tontatta's scouting unit, she's in the underground trade port now." The dwarves all grimaces at this. "The Donquixote Family - the Trebol Army - Special Officer Sugar. She is a girl who can turn anything into a toy merely by touching. She looks like a child, but anyone who eats the fruit stops aging from the moment they digest it. Since she's the most important figure, the top executive, Trebol, is always guarding her."

I frowned and thought back to the people I met in the palace earlier in the day. "Trebol...is he the snotty man?" The Soldier nodded at my description and I shuddered, recalling the lack of personal space around him. "I think I'll pass on seeing him again."

"So if we can knock her out," Robin spoke excitedly, fully understanding the plan as the gears turned in her head. "all the toys will change back?!"

"That's right." The Soldier responded, and I felt very ignored all of a sudden, slinking back to stand beside Usopp, who gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "We'll frighten her out of her wits and make her pass out. And that is Operation..." Everyone leaned forward, ready to learn just what SOP stood for, especially Franky, who had questioned it several times when first started talking. "...Sugar Oversurprised Panic!"

I was let down by the name, but Franky fucking loved it, exclaiming that it was a great name for the Operation. Instead of commenting that it wasn't all that great, which I had been ready to do, I watched Usopp with a small smile as he started to pose a few feet from me. "If the enemy is just a girl, follow me, everyone!" He boasted proudly, flexing and looking the part of a hero, despite his slightly shaking knees.

The dwarves all cheered loudly for their hero 'Usoland', the fake name he had given himself to trick the dwarves into letting them go. I moved to stand by Robin and Franky cheered. He pressed his finger to his metallic nose, and a few seconds later, his hair popped out, knocking his hat off and making me jump. Since when could he do that? I watched with unmasked fear as said hair morphed into a cannon on top of his head, and I wondered just what the hell the cyborg had been up to the last two years.

As the two men boasted about how great they were and that they would defeat the enemies, Robin and I stood back with a blank expression and a horrified expression, respectively. In the excitement of the dwarves cheering for the 'Usolanders' and the two male pirates cheering for themselves, the older woman turned to me and looked me over.

"I see that you've been through a rough couple of hours." She looked pointedly at the thin lines of blood on my neck, arms, and legs. Then looked longer at the part of my arm that had been grazed by the bullet not too long ago. "What are you going to do now?"

It was the question I had been dreading for a while now because I didn't know what I was going to do. It was obvious that I was a part of all of this, whether I wanted to be or not, and I wasn't just going to walk away and leave these people that I cared about to deal with Doflamingo and whatever the hell was wrong with this island by themselves. But what I could do for them was limited severely, due to some more recent circumstances. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to be in the way.

So I shook my head and shrugged. "Honestly? No clue."

"You - -" The dwarves cheers combined with the flaunting of Franky and Usopp drowned out her words, so she moved a little closer to speak. "You can stick with us and carry out this Operation SOP. Or you can go back and try to catch up with Luffy and the others."

With two options, it became easier to make my decision. It was tempting, so _fucking tempting _to go back towards the Colosseum and try to catch up with Luffy, who, from what Robin relayed to me a while ago, was going after Doflamingo and Law. I wanted to see them so bad, and she had said that Zoro was with them, and even though I hadn't seen him, I knew she wasn't lying and I _missed _that moss head. Not as much as I missed Luffy, but still, he was missed. And I wanted to _talk _to Luffy, about what he was up to with Hancock and Rayleigh and Jinbe after we dropped them off, and tell him how utterly pissed I was at Sabo for showing up out of nowhere all of a sudden. I just wanted to be near my little brother and give him a hug and pull his stupid stretchy cheeks and give him a piggyback ride and have to save my food from his grabby hands.

But this wasn't the ideal place to meet up with him just yet. And if I saw him now, my emotions would override the seriousness of the problems on Dressrosa, and that wouldn't be good for anyone. Definitely not good for Law, who was now dealing with three bullets in the chest.

The best thing to do right now would be to either stick with Robin's group or go off on my own completely. Clearly, one of those was a dumb choice, so I went with the one that would keep me alive a little longer.

"I'll stay with you guys."

But in the end, our group had to split. There was a tunnel that we were to take to the underground trading port, but since Franky was outrageously large, he wouldn't be able to squeeze in with the rest of us humans. The Soldier sent him to the port by going through the Toy House. I offered to go along, so he wouldn't be alone, but he told me to stay with Robin and Usopp, something about how it would be better if I didn't go out in the open just yet. As this was sorted out, Robin got some bandages and put them on the bullet wound on my arm, wrapping it tightly so no dirt from the tunnel we were about to crawl through would get in it and infect the wound in any way.

And the three of us humans, Robin, Usopp, and I, alongside the dwarves and the Soldier went into the tunnel. As it turned out, we didn't have to shimmy through on our dwarves moved underneath us and carried us three through the tunnel gladly, just happy to help out the heroes that had come to save them.

_Damn Usopp and his ridiculous lies._

From up in the front, one of the dwarves announced that Franky was getting wild at the Toy House. Usopp, from directly behind the Soldier, assured him that Franky was going to be just fine because he was a cyborg and was awesome. They started to break down how the Donquixote Family was set up in terms of who controlled who and who the biggest players were. I listened as well as I could from my spot behind Robin, but in the tunnel where all the dwarves were running, the one who was speaking was easily drowned out at times, leaving me sort of in the dark when I didn't want to be.

And then we were out of the tunnel, Usopp going first and being slammed into the wall with his head. Robin and I were let out much more gently, thanking the small people. It took a moment for me to realize that we were in the place that we needed to be. And it took me another moment to realize the noises and voices from very close by.

Clanks and clinks, and then the large crash that had me jumping. Robin, I noticed, moved to the edge of some large metallic crates, and I followed, standing by her side and watching her look around the corner at what was there. As she moved back and let me take a peek, the voices floated by more clearly.

"_Hey! Who dropped the cargo?"_

"_Someone got crushed by it."_

"_S-sorry. I'll work! But let me see my family!"_

"_Idiot! Someone who can't fulfill their quota will be sent to the junkyard!"_

"_W-wait! I can still work! Please stop!"_

It was at that moment, when I moved back to Robin's other side and allowed her to look out at what was going on, that Usopp finally realized what was going on and rushed over with a call of our names. He latched onto my arm for a moment before moving to peek around the crates, completely floored by what he was seeing.

The dwarves ran up and we all simultaneously realized that the Soldier, our so-called 'captain' had disappeared. They explained that he moved on to the palace to personally deal with Doflamingo while Usopp was to be the one to make the plan to deal with Sugar.

And the look on the liars face when they called him a hero and basically said that the success of this plan was riding on his shoulders was priceless, and if it had been any other situation, I would have laughed loud and hard at the expression. The dwarf spoke to Usopp about where Trebol and Sugar were located, and the three of us peeked over to the building where they were.

Only for someone to turn at that exact moment and see us before we had the chance to move back into hiding.

Three men came over to investigate, coming from around the side of the crates and yelling at Usopp because he wasn't supposed to be down there. And in the middle of the yelling, I blinked. I swear that was all that I did. I blinked and then _poof _- - their clothes were gone. In the blink of a fucking _eye _they were stripped down to their boxers. And it didn't stop there with these little dwarves. Oh no! The next thing I knew, the two men were knocked into the ground like they were nails and the dwarves were hammers.

The dwarves turned to us when they were done, either not noticing our stunned expressions or choosing to ignore them.

"Change into these, Usoland, Robiland, Marland!" And change into them we did, because you did not argue with little things that could pack that much of a punch, no matter who you were. Well, at least, that was why _I _changed into the clothes handed to me, stripping quickly from the torn remains of the dress and putting on the clothes that would help us blend in so we could move around more freely.

The dwarves praised Usopp for 'pretending' to act scared, we were changed, and the man took it upon himself to put on a brave face and take lead of the whole thing, probably reassured that these guys could really do some damage and protect him if need be. I won't lie. It sure as hell put me at ease.

We moved freely after this, wearing our disguises, are really followed Robin's lead, as she was more accustomed to doing things like infiltration. The only time I had done it was during the War two years ago when I knocked out a Marine and stole his uniform, so I didn't have a lot of knowledge on what to do. But following Robin's lead, we made it to where we needed to go eventually. I kept my head down, unable to look around at what was happening, reminded of back conditions of the Gray Terminal. It hurt.

After much walking and talking about what to do when we got to the tower, we stopped outside of an open door just as a jerking little odd looking toy walked out, clearly fresh made from it's movements. The three of us peeked in, and I saw the large snotty man standing behind a small girl. Trebol and Sugar.

Usopp knelt on the ground and addressed the dwarves. "So, what's our plan?"

"Look at this!" One of them pulled out what looked like a grape, Sugar's favorite food and what she was currently eating. However, from the excited look on his face, it wasn't a grape. And his next words proved that. "It's a block of Tatababasco, the hottest spice in the world! We made it identical to a grape!"

I cocked a brow and squatted down beside Usopp, looking at the spice with a smirk. "You guys are good."

"You want Sugar to eat it?" Usopp sounded horrified.

"I'll put it inside her basket!"

And that little man ran forward, very confident, making a speech about how he would stop Sugar and everyone would go back to normal and how they would bring King Riku back into power. I thought it was a beautiful speech, and Usopp was concerned that they were yelling so loudly. The dwarf, who had I just learned was named Leo, moved forward to carry out the plan

Then, out of nowhere, Trebol shot out with his Devil Fruit power. I jerked, and everyone was tense. Had he hit Leo? Was he okay? Was the plan ruined? In the end, it turned out to be a fly, and I sat back against the wall, hands in my hair and shaking slightly. Was _I _going to be okay? Was everything going to be ruined for me? Doflamingo had already tried to kill me once, and now doubt the rest of his men knew that they were supposed to kill me if they saw me. So what would happen if Trebol saw me? Would he shoot me next? And what about Sugar? Would she turn me into a toy to work for a serve Doflamingo until I died?

My thoughts were interrupted by yells from a little ways away where some people were doing their shady business, shouting about pink bees coming from their cargo.

"What are they…?"

And from inside the room where Trebol and Sugar were, _Robin's _voice rang out, and I realized that I must have been thinking about things for too long and missed something important.

"I've come to report, Trebol-sama! Commercial port 4th Section. There's ongoing trouble with the pirate crew of Captain Ibs! He claims he needs to talk to an Executive about the agreed money." I sighed and leaned my head down and shook it back and forth, impressed realy. This was why I wanted to follow Robin. I knew that she knew what to do.

Usopp and I stayed ducked behind the boxes by the door as Robin walked out with Trebol, leading him to the 4th Section or whatever. It didn't matter. She was providing a distraction, that much was obvious, and we were going to take it while we had it. The dwarves moved in first after Usopp promised that he would cover them and nothing would happen. They demanded that Sugar turn their friends back, and were so easily fooled into thinking she was innocent just because she claimed to be so.

I wasn't all too sure what happened, as I was sitting against the wall and keeping a lookout at the trading ports while Usopp looked after the dwarves. But the next thing I knew, I heard a struggle. When looking back, I saw that there were many toys. Little black bear toys. But where did these toys come from? Did Sugar make them appear? It didn't matter much at the moment, since Leo and the other dwarves were taking care of them, but who would deal with Sugar herself?

A loud yell brought my attention to Trebol, in the distance. Something shot out and hit the tower, and everything turned to shit. It was all a blur filled with debris and screams, mainly from the long nosed man that was grabbing onto me in fear. Up above, the ceiling crumbled significantly, and when looking up, a large duck fell.

_What the hell?_

And for the life of me, I would never figure out just how I ended up lying underneath Usopp while he himself was squashed by the falling debris. The only thing bringing us back to consciousness was the voice of Robin, whose face appeared above ours as she dug us out. Everything just seemed...black from the time we saw the duck until this moment. How much time had passed? Seconds? Minutes? Hours?

Robin huffed and looked relieved, resting a hand on each of our heads. "At least the two of you are okay." Usopp started to speak, but she shushed him.

"What happened?" He finally got out, coughing up a lung. "A duck suddenly fell from the sky!"

I nodded and sighed. "So I'm not crazy and that really happened. Good to know."

"Leo and the others were caught." At Robin's voice, Usopp and I got up to our knees on either side of her and looked towards where all the dwarves were being held by Trebol and Sugar. Being questioned by them, the two enemies using their naive nature to get what they needed to know.

In the blink of an eye, when Trebol was satisfied with what he heard, the sticky substance that he coated the little people with burst into flames. An explosion. The fire was hot and hurt my skin, even from this distance. When I brought my arms down from covering my face, Usopp had already run forward to the injured little fighters, begging them to run away with him.

"I can't do that." Leo sounded weak, but alive. "I must complete the SOP strategy as soon as possible." He kept breaking off to cough. As he spoke, I stood up and dusted myself off, clenching my hands into fists as a rage swept through me, burning my chest and prickling my skin. "If I can do that," Leo continued, confident. "Our Captain will definitely defeat Doflamingo! I must hurry! Our Captain is waiting!"

An argument broke out between the two, short in length, but powerful. Leo described just _why _the Soldier was able to rebel against the Donquixote Family. It seemed unreal, that he had been able to fight alone and survive for ten years. I, daresay, started to admire this toy, who was really a man trapped in a tin body. My admiration for him was only amplified when he was revealed to be a legendary gladiator, a real hero of the Colosseum.

My hands shook as I stood behind Usopp, still listening to Leo speak. When I opened my mouth to say something, Usopp turned tail and ran, grabbing my wrist and dragging me with him.

"Where…?"

"We gotta get outta here." He sounded terrified, and for good reason. But he couldn't just _run away! _He made a promise to these little soldiers and he needed to see it through to the end, dammit. "Sorry guys. I'll write a story for you. A picture book. I'll give it a cool name and everything. Franky will help. I know he will. Your story will be heard and seen by everyone and you won't be forgotten."

I jerked my wrist around in his hand and started pushing on his shoulder. "Usopp, we have to go back." My voice shook.

"Mara, you don't understand - -!"

"No, Usopp!" I yelled, planting my feet on the ground and bringing the both of us to a stop by some cargo containers, hidden from view for the most part. His eyes widened as I swung him around and gripped his shoulders. "We _need _to go back _now. _Do you realize that these people trust you with their lives? And you're throwing that away! You're killing these people, Usopp. And if you keep running, no matter how cruel it may seem, I'll hold that over you for the rest of your life. I won't let you forget that the first people to ever believe your ridiculous lies _died _because you're being a coward!"

A shout of his false name rang out from behind us, where we had abandoned those poor soldiers. Usopp had tears in his eyes and he shook with fear. Trembling under my hands. The shout was followed by the sounds of their screams of pain. Tears ran down his face. My heart panged, but I kept my angry expression in place, hands flinching against his skin the only indication that the sounds were affecting me.

His hands move to cover his face and he begged them to stop. I grabbed his hands with my own and tried to comfort with my touch, though I kept my words harsh.

"It's your fault." Usopp's head snapped up and he looked horrified. "They bet everything on you. Don't let them down, Usoland."

And he didn't need anymore convincing. He tore off down back where we had just ran from, leaving me to follow behind him. I could see that his knees were trembling still with fear of what he was going to do, but I assured him that I would be behind him. And _I _wouldn't run away. We ran up to the ruined building, standing atop debris, and looked down at Trebol and Sugar and the dwarf soldiers.

"JUST QUIT IT YOU ALL!" Usopp screamed out, panting from having run all this way. I jumped in surprise that he had called attention to us when the enemy hadn't noticed us yet, but this was Usopp. He didn't do dangerous things unless he had a plan, right? From below, they called out his name, relieved that he had come back. "Why do you all trust me so much? You're so naive!"

_Wait...what?_

"It's all lies like they said! I'm not a legendary hero! My name isn't even Usoland! I'm the sniper of the intimidating Straw Hat crew! My name is Usopp! And I'm a pirate!"

These poor soldiers tried to make sense of what Usopp was saying. "Even if you're a pirate, you're still a hero, right?"

"I said I'm not! I'm just a pirate! Don't make me ever say this over and over again! I deceived you! Why do you keep believing that lie?!"

Trebol laughed, looking between Usopp and myself before resting his gaze on Usopp. "So you came all this way to tell them that you lied?" And he laughed some more, the snot dripping onto the floor.

I leaned closer to Usopp's ear. "I hope you have a plan." He didn't acknowledge my whispered words in the way that I thought he would. I thought he would realize that no, he didn't have a plan, and he would become the Usopp that I knew from two years ago.

And I was proven wrong, as I have been many times in the past, as he readied his weapon in his hand and continued to yell down to everyone. "If I didn't tell them, they would be waiting for me to come back until they die! I can't stand that, and to thank them for trusting me, I'd rather risk my life here. Sounds cooler, huh?" He drew the strings back on his slingshot and I was left staring at him open mouthed. "My name is Usopp! Remember, Tontatta! If I die here, build me a statue next to Noland's! From now on, I'm going to be your Legendary Hero!"

_Well...I didn't expect this..._

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**[A/N]: I know, it's very straight from the manga and not all that excited, but things need to move forward, don't they? And this is a pretty important moment, so of course it had to be put in. Sorry for the lack of excitement. I'll try harder next time.**

**Please review and all that jazz. I love you guys and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXo**


	13. Game Start

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**And a reminder - - THIS FIC HAS SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA SO YOU ARE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK. IT EVEN SAYS IT IN THE SUMMARY SO DON'T SAY THAT YOU HAVEN'T BEEN WARNED.**

**I'm posting now becase this chapter is basically just more summary...sry**

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**Chapter Thirteen**

Usopp shot at Trebol with no hesitation. The shock of that alone will never leave me for as long as I live. I had expected some ridiculous act to try and seem harmless to the enemy. A trick, or something silly right off the bat. But it was true that he had changed and matured over the last two years. And Usopp came out swinging, and I couldn't help but be proud of him.

But I didn't have much time to think of it before I noticed that the attack didn't work all too well on Trebol. Usopp noticed as well, because he wasn't as unobservant as I thought, and sent more shots at the man. Over and over, shooting different things at Trebol in hopes of beating the man. There was harley time to think or even act on what was happening. It was moving too fast. I wanted to help, though, and it was so damn frustrating because I couldn't do anything. I had no way of helping. If only I could - -

"Move!" As I thought, I had been scanning Trebol and the area around him, and caught sight of the sticky stuff shooting towards us just in time to shout out to Usopp and shove him away. The sticky stuff caught my arm, and immediately, a burning sensation ran through where it touched me. I grit my teeth against the pain, bringing my free hand up to pull it off, screaming when the pain blossomed in my hand as well and spread. "Don't worry about me!" I yelled to Usopp, who had rushed over to help. He looked unsure, yet tried to look brave. I gave what I hoped was a reassuring smile and tried not to scream out again as another wave of the burning sensation swept through my arm. "Get Sugar."

But it was too much to expect from the kid. Even though I had managed to move down and try to help Usopp, it hadn't changed the outcome. Trebol showed no mercy for either of us, and in the end, we were kneeling side by side before him and Sugar, bound with the sticky substance. Usopp had been viciously beaten and had lost consciousness not too long ago. I had received similar treatment, my entire body throbbed in pain, and I was just barely clinging to consciousness, my vision tunneling, black dots swimming. Blood trailed down my forehead and the side of my face. The sounds of the dwarves around us tearfully calling out for 'Usoland' and 'Marland' were the only things keeping me awake.

Through the blackness in my vision, I saw Sugar step closer to Usopp, holding the false grape up to her face with a sinister look on her young face. "I'll give you back this poisonous grape too." Had she been talking this whole time? The blood was pounding in my ears and it was hard to even make out what she had just said, but not impossible. I lifted my gaze to see her hand bring the grape to Usopp's mouth, and I jolted.

"Leave him alone you bitch - -"

"Die."

I heard the click of his teeth over the sudden silence in my ears. My heart stopped when he swallowed the 'grape' and started to fall backwards. The dwarves earlier had said that they had tested the spice on some of their friends, and some of them risked death. I kicked and thrashed and ended up on my back, kicking out my feet at the small girl as best as I could. But it wouldn't change the fact that Usopp had eaten the spice. And his chances of survival were slim, at best. If only I had been able to - -

A scream erupted from his mouth and I jumped, halting my actions at once. Smoke billowed from his mouth, and I could smell the burning of his tongue from where I laid beside him. As he screamed, his face contorted in agony. My heart lurched from fear of the sudden noise. It seemed that the fear wasn't just felt by me, because Sugar screamed back, her own face an expression of raw terror. I watched with sick satisfaction as the small Hobby-Hobby Fruit user fell back against the ground, eyes wide, and passed out.

Operation SOP had been a success, it seemed.

Trebol yelled out for the fallen girl. The dwarves seemed completely flabbergasted that this had even happened for real. Had they no faith? Usopp collapsed on top of my upper body, his back pressing painfully against my chest, definitely unconscious.

In that moment, memories flooded back of people that I hadn't realized I had forgotten. Robin! How could I have forgotten about her?! She had been right next to us up until not too long ago! When had she turned into a toy? Also, memories of Colosseum fighters that I had seen a while back on the screen fighting to the death. I had forgotten all about most of them, and even though they were fighting over who would claim me as the prize, I felt kind of bad. But it was a terrifying feeling, getting these memories back, because it hadn't felt like I had forgotten anything. And then suddenly there were things back in my mind. It made my head throb.

From outside of the ruined building, sounds of surprised and elated people rang in my ears, and I smiled. We did good.

"Sorry, Doffy!" Trebol screamed into the Den-Den Mushi on his palm, clearly surprised and upset at what had happened. "Sugar lost consciousness!"

From the other end, Doflamingo's voice rang out, shaking with fury. "Hey, are you joking?"

I must have dozed off, my head swimming and my body in pain, because the next thing I knew, the sticky stuff was gone from my body and Usopp had been removed from my chest. I opened my eyes to Robin, knelt between the both of us, turning her head back and forth from my face to his, worry evident in her features. Her hands touched our cheeks, brushing the blood away and gently patting, trying to wake us up.

"...badly hurt to help us!" The voice came from beside me, and when I turned my head, swarms of dwarves - - more than I remembered there being - - were sobbing uncontrollably, all ridiculously happy. I almost smiled. "We'll build you a bronze statue! You are definitely our hero!"

I turned my head over to see Usopp lift his hand, stick a thumb in the air, and wheeze out, "...went as planned..." Liar. "...rely on my friends...for the rest...the fight...is about to start..." And he conked out again.

The dwarves moved underneath Usopp and began to carry away their hero. Robin stood and asked them to bring me to safety. "Robin, no." I croaked, wobbling to my feet and standing by her side, much to the protest of the small people around my ankles, grabbing my pant legs and tugging down. "I'm staying to fight with you." And if not fighting, then I could be a distraction. A human projectile. Anything. But I refused to sit on the sidelines and not do anything. I had done too much of that for two years.

Trebol stood before us, angry and explaining that we wouldn't get away. She looked at me, her arms crossed over her chest, and gave a nod. "Take care of Usopp!" She shouted down to the dwarves, and they obeyed, scurrying off with Usopp in their hands, very adamant about him not being touched by the enemy.

"Your goal is the SMILE Factory, isn't it, Nico Robin and Panther D. Mara." We kept silent. Me, because I didn't even remember is that was our goal anymore, and Robin because I'm sure she wasn't about to divulge their plans to the enemy. He called out an attack, and a chain of that sticky stuff moved towards us. Robin used her powers to stop it, just as another completely different voice rang out from above.

"Stop!"

We looked up to the face of… "A giant." Robin sounded just as surprised as I felt. He had been on of the competitors at the Colosseum. Then the giant moved to grab ahold of Usopp, thanking him for saving them all.

"He was a toy." I realized, watching him hold Usopp by the arms and show off his hero to the people that were standing around, many crying, all looked absolutely relieved and happy and every other good feeling. "They were all the toys." From up above us, the ceiling started to crack and crumble, light coming through. "That's not good."

Robin nodded from beside me and grabbed my arm when I started to wobble, moving us away from the distracted Trebol. "I agree."

"W-well..." Usopp's cracking voice reached my ears, and I looked up to him, amazed and just as transfixed as everyone else there. He was so broken and defeated, and yet, he kept going. He really had changed, and I loved it. "Destroy the factory behind me...and save my little friends..."

And the people who were standing before him in awe listened, charging to the building with a war cry of some sort. The dwarves cheered through their sobs. I turned to Robin to tell her something, but when I saw that she was no longer by my side, I forgot what I was going to say. In fact, nearly everyone had moved on.

I looked around and started off towards the area of the trade ports, where we had come in from and where the toys had been forced to work. I didn't know where else to go, and with the fighting of everyone trying to destroy the factory by me, I didn't want to be too close to that.

It didn't take long for me to catch sight of Robin standing beside Usopp's prone form. I approached quickly, because I knew we still had things to do, but when I saw who was coming at the same time towards them, I slowed until finally stopping. Koala jumped towards Robin with excitement and threw her arms around the older woman, burrowing her head into her chest. A competitor from the Colosseum fight, a fish man called Hack I believe, was standing further back, though his name was called in greeting by Robin, and he responded. She also seemed happy to see Morjiana, who responded with a smile showcasing her pointed teeth and a small wave.

The fourth name she called, however, was the reason I stopped. It was Sabo. And he wasn't wearing that gladiator garb anymore. Instead, it was something reminiscent of what he wore when we were kids. A top hat with goggles. And nice clothes, befitting of a noble. I couldn't do anything but watch as Robin knelt and brought Usopp up more, introducing him as her friend to the Revolutionaries that were also her friends.

"Ah, Mara!" Koala had been the first to notice me as she rushed forward and managed to get me to tear my eyes from Sabo long enough to see that she was glad to see that I alright. "I see that you didn't get out completely unharmed." She smiled and looked at my arm, where the blood had seeped through the sleeve of my stolen clothing.

I shook my head and muttered a negative. "Excuse me..." I mumbled, giving her a pat on the shoulder and moving towards Sabo, who was looking at me with an expression of relief and something else that I couldn't place. I had it in my mind what I was going to do. I was gonna give this asshole a piece of mind, yes I was. And no words were needed for that.

But just as I got to where Robin knelt, he ground began to shake, and turning around, I watched as the Factory moved upwards. People screamed and ran from the moving building. What the hell…?

"Citizens of Dressrosa...and guests," Doflamingo's voice rang out, and I looked up on instinct only to notice the odd look of the sky. What had changed? Where had those lines come from? Did that fucking bird just get sliced up?! "I could have just ruled you with terror from the start! Now that you know the truth, I'm sure that many of you want to kill me. That's why I prepared a 'game'...a game to kill me!"

Was he insane?

"I'm in the Royal Palace. I won't run or hide! But, I prepared another way to end the game!"

Oh this won't be good…

"If you kill all the people I'm about to name, then the game will be over! I'll also prepare a reward for every one of these people! Kill or be killed! All of the people in this country are not hunters! If you want to be saved, you have no choice but to take someone's head! No one will come and save you! Nobody can escape this Birdcage! It's impossible to call outside. You will just die, and no one outside will notice! Your neighbors will go crazy and continue killing people at random! Even their family! Even their best friends! Even the citizens they should protect!"

Does he mean to say that was what was going on up above ground right not at this moment? Sick bastard…

"You can run away and hide yourself...but there's no safe place inside this Birdcage. This terror will go on endlessly! Will you all die first?! Or will you end the game first?!"

The people who Usopp had asked to destroy the factory started to chase it up to fulfill that wish, thanking 'God Usopp' as they went. He seemed to just move up in rank all the time, didn't he? First Hero and now God. What was next? Was there anything that could be next?

Our group had moved around while Doflamingo went insane over the speaker. Sabo moved away and sat on a crate, thinking hard about something. I finally noticed that we had three extra people with us since the announcement began - - the pink haired gladiator Rebecca, the green haired Bartolomeo, and a...top-knot guy.

"What was that ruckus, Kin'emon?" Robin asked, directing the question to said top-knot guy. She just knew everyone, didn't she?

While the conversed for a moment, I moved discreetly so that I wouldn't be too close to Bartolomeo or Rebecca. They had both been competing to win me, and I had yet to find out their reasons, and I didn't want to be close in case they decided to take me away and carry out their plans, whatever they were. Bartolomeo just looked scary. I mean, they called him 'Cannibal' for a reason, didn't they?

Well, that was what I thought. Until he spoke, er, tried to speak to Robin.

"R-Robin-senpai, make me your slave! No! I mean, I have something to ask you! That guy's nose resembles Sogeking-senpai's, that guy who shot down the flag at the Tower of Justice..."

"That's him. Usopp."

"Ooooooh! Together with Robin-senpai who had her heart stolen by the crew that made the whole world their enemy for the sake of one comrade...the 'Enies Lobby Shootdown Combo'!" He then turned his gaze to me and his eyes began overflowing with tears, and I couldn't make out anything he was saying over his excitement.

Sabo, now thoroughly annoyed, yelled at the green haired man. "Why are you so excited you maniac?! Shut up!"

So...remember how I had thought that Bartolomeo and Eustass Kidd were kindred spirits? I was wrong. So very wrong. But it was funny, and I found myself biting back a smile at his strange behavior.

The entire time, Doflamingo had been silent. Now, he spoke up again, sounding rather please with himself and this little game he cooked up. If all we had to do was kill some people, I was down. It wouldn't be the first time I had blood on my hands, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

"Think...will you try to kill me? Or will you, together with the Donquixote Family, punish those thirteen fools that opposed me? If you make the wrong choice his game won't end. One hundred million beri for each star! They are the real convicts of Dressrosa!" The pictures of eleven people flashed across the screen, most familiar, some not.

"Worth one star each, Corrida Colosseum Prisoner Gladiator Rebecca, Pirate of the Straw Hat Crew 'The Devil Child' Nico Robin, Wano Country Samurai 'Firefox' Kin'emon, Dressrosa Former Princess Viola, and Pirate of the Straw Hat Crew 'Cyborg' Franky. Worth two stars each, Dressrosa former Captain Kyros and Pirate of the Straw Hat Crew 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro. Worth three stars, Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff Sabo, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates 'Straw Hat' Luffy, Captain of the Heart Pirates previous Shichibukai 'The Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law, and former King of Dressrosa Riku Dold III."

Sabo was appalled. "Me too?!"

Usopp looked relieved, and I could practically read his mind as I too sagged slightly. Thank God he didn't remember us, right? ...right? Wait...he said thirteen and the screen only showed eleven faces…

Fuck.

"Moreover, the two that today angered me the most, the previously thought dead Mara The Devil. And the source of all evil, the guy who forced you into this cruel game, Straw Hat Pirate crew member 'God' Usopp, both worth 500 million Beries each if you take their heads!"

And our faces were shown on the screen, side by side, recently take photos. Usopp looked proud in his and not scared, I noted, mentally applauding him. I was looking over my shoulder in mine, clutching my bleeding arm in my hand. I looked down at him to see the face he made and would have laughed if I hadn't been in the same boat and making the same face. We were screwed with all these money-hungry pirates on the island.

On cue, the heads of said money-hungry pirates whipped around and looked at us, beri signs in their eyes. When they realized that both five stars, a pair of two stars, and a single one star were sitting not twenty feet from them, they started to charge.

The dwarves abandoned Usopp, letting him fall to the ground, and scurrying away over everyone's feet. Kin'emon, the samurai, jumped into a hole. Bartolomeo threw up a barrier with his Devil Fruit powers and ordered us to go to the surface without him. Robin and I grabbed up each one of Usopp's arm, throwing them over our shoulders, and dragging him along as we ran. Rebecca followed close behind me, her eyes observing me not-too-subtly. As we went, Robin pulled out a Den-Den Mushi and made a call.

"Zoro?"

The voice that responded hadn't changed in the last two years, and I smiled in spite of the situation. "Yeah?"

"Where are you?"

"Now? I'm with Luffy and the others. This place is called the King's Plateau. This is getting quite troublesome..."

"Robin!" Luffy yelled out suddenly. "Did you see what that damn Mingo did? Usopp was kinda hilarious." The men being dragged between us looked angry at his captain for that comment. "Mara looked pretty stupid, too." Now it was my turn to glare at the snail, which was no mimicking the laughter of the rubber idiot on the other end. "Rebecca ended up on the list too. Is she okay?"

The girl in question reached forward and grabbed the Den-Den Mushi in her hands, speaking to Luffy about the toy soldier that had been with him and asking what kind of person her was. It seemed like a personal conversation, so I distracted myself by passing Usopp to the dwarves, who had come back to help their hero. Apparently, the guilt was too much. They were all the same. I ran alongside Usopp's body while Robin got the snail back and talked to her captain once more.

Robin lead the way to the Colosseum, where we ran along the stadium seats. I turned around from my spot behind Rebecca and noticed that Sabo and Koala were gone. Hack noticed this at the same time. And Morjiana…

"It's good to see you again." I panted to the taller woman who ran on the bench seat on my left. She grinned down at me, then frowned, pointing to the red patch on my arm. "It's fine. Doesn't hurt."

My feet hurt, though, but we had to keep running. The people chasing us were gaining, and Bartolomeo could only use so many barriers before he got tired out.

"After the ground moved, the outer wall of the Colosseum came in contact with the King's Plateau. If we climb up there, we'll be able to join the others."

Nobody had any complaints with Robin's observation or plan, so we doubled our speed, moving faster. We reached the wall that we would need to climb in no time, and Robin immediately started to sprout a net of hands for us to climb up. Usopp was sent up first, the dwarves carrying him as fast and as carefully as possible. Rebecca and myself moved next, helping one another as we went. My legs were too shaky to move up on my own. Robin climbed fast just behind us, Hack behind her. Bartolomeo gave one mighty shove with his barrier and followed quickly.

Morjiana stayed behind to go down and look for members of the Donquixote Family and fulfill whatever mission she had, as well as to find Kureiji.

Up on the King's Plateau, we met up with King Riku and Viola, the ex-royalty that were involved in this game as well. Bartolomeo immediately realized that Luffy wasn't present, and he was very upset about this. I sat down against the wall and allowed myself to somewhat relax while I could. I closed my eyes to what was going on around me and simply sat. Nothing went through my mind. No thought, nothing. I kept an ear out for danger, but it just felt so good to sit down after all the chaos that happened in the last few minutes.

Today was turning into the longest day ever. It felt like years ago that Londae woke me up and tried to form a trap with Doflamingo in order to capture. It felt like years ago that I killed her and was captured. I just wanted this all to end, and I am not ashamed to say that in this moment, I began to pray to a higher entity for this to come to an end with the least possible casualties on our side. It was selfish, but I hadn't asked for anything in a while, so I think it was owed to me now. I wanted to see everyone all together again. Happy. And not risking their lives for people.

It sounded nice.

"I found they key, father! The key to Trafalgar Law's handcuffs!" My eyes slowly opened at this and I looked to the person talking, Viola, who was being hugged by Rebecca and the dwarves all at once. "Now we've got to find a way to send them to him…!"

"What have I told you about him, Viola?! He's a pirate!" King Riku sounded stunned that she would team up with pirates of all things, and I couldn't say that I blamed him. Pirates weren't good people.

But Viola was determined about this, and for good reason. "I know! But they're 'intruders' that will break this country's feigned peace. Father, I...I want to believe in them!" I saw the fire in her eyes, and it intrigued me. I liked this woman. "Ever since the World Government gave Doflamingo his title, he has reigned over this country and gave us nothing but scars that we had to bear. It's too late to get help from the Marines or the Government under the pretense of 'Justice' after all this time! Those people can't hear it, the voices of those that have sacrificed themselves...the anger of this country! The ears of the powerful are attuned to their convenience!" She looked directly at King Riku, tears shining in her eyes. "At least there's blood flowing through Straw Hat's words! They've poured their hearts into their actions!"

A silence weighed over the people around us. I looked between Viola and the King and waited for someone to say something.

Surprisingly, it was Leo who spoke from between Usopp and I. "King Riku, please take a look at him!" He and the other dwarves gestured to Usopp, but King Riku's eyes went to me as well.

"You two are the five stars..."

I shook my head and pointed to Usopp, prone beside me on the ground. "He's the important one though."

"This man selfishly put his life on the line to break the toy curse that had been on this country for ten years! He's our hero!" Leo began to cry even more as he spoke. "His actions have brought tears to our eyes. And Luffyland is our heroes Captain! King Riku! The Straw Hat Usolanders are Dressrosa's beam of hope! We'll trust them with all we have, even if they're pirates!"

The man looked thoughtful after this heartfelt speech. I cleared my throat, bringing his attention to myself, and smiled. "Sir, if it means anything, I know my brother, and when he says he's gonna kick someone's ass, he means it."

Rebecca then did something I didn't think was safe and offered to bring the key to Luffy and Law. Bartolomeo, of course, offered to come along. The dwarves offered to take them, and then everyone set to planning, and I leaned back once more against the wall, taking a deep breath and trying to shake the last of the burning sensation from my body. I don't know what that goo was that Trebol uses, but it lingered and hurt.

"Do you believe that?" I opened an eye to see King Riku, still knelt before Usopp and myself, staring directly at me. I raised a brow at his question, and he elaborated. "Do you believe that your brother Straw Hat can help this country?"

I said nothing for a while. I simply looked at the man, who looked nothing short of desperate and hopeful. Usopp saw it as well, and he was the one to reassure the old man. "You have nothing to worry about." The confidence in his voice was becoming a normal thing. "Luffy's saved a few other countries. We'll just add yours to the list."

"Alabasta, right?" I asked, trying to think back to what they had told me two years ago about their adventures.

Usopp nodded. "That, and he saved an entire island in the sky. Also survived going against CP-9, survived punching a Celestial Dragon, and so many other things."

"He survives because he's an idiot with an insane amount of luck." I grumbled, though I couldn't keep the smile from my face. "I still can't believe you guys let him punch Saint Charloss like that."

"I just missed it, actually."

"I bet it was hilarious."

And the two of us chuckled, and King Riku walked away. Robin spoke with Rebecca and Viola, and at one point called Luffy to tell them that she had to key to Law's handcuffs, and they would meet up at the Flower Fields. It was decided that Rebecca, Bartolomeo, and Robin would go. And as they spoke to Leo about how they would get there, I stood up and moved to the three knelt forms of the key team, coming to kneel beside Bartolomeo, much to his delight.

Robin looked to me and frowned. "Are you alright, Mara?"

I yawned and lifted a hand, nodding. "Fine. Just tired. My good morning call consisted of getting caught by Doflamingo and dealing with a little traitor."

"Ahh, Mara-sama! You are so cool~!"

I looked to Leo and frowned. "I'm going too."

He introduced us to our rides to the Flower Field...which were beetles. The four of us reeled back in shock and started to protest that they couldn't possibly carry us and we would take our chances charging through the city.

"This is the Tontatta Airlines Jumping Service!" Leo exclaimed angrily. "It can't fly because humans are heavy!"

"Exactly!"

"Plus we don't have time!" And before I knew it, we were thrown off the building, each of us clutching onto the strings that connected to the beatles. We all screamed, and none of us were ashamed to admit that. I closed my eyes and waited to just die.

But that didn't happen. I was falling much slower than I thought I would be, and when I opened my eyes, we were kind of flying, believe it or not.

Leo, from Rebecca's shoulder, spoke up proudly. "It can't fly, but it can decelerate the drop!" My stomach dropped as we fell, and it felt like a roller coaster, when you get to top and are about to go over the edge of the big drop. "Make sure you skim the rooftops well enough." He warned as we neared the rooftops. "If you use them as a stepping stone," My foot connected to the roof and I pushed off, going higher than I normally would have had I not had the beatles to carry me up. "It can help rise you into the air!"

Bartolomeo, from beside me, was ecstatic about the whole experience, and kept looking around with wide eyes and a huge smile. He reminded me of a...puppy? No, he was too creepy for that. Maybe…a cat?

"But beware of the attacks coming from below! We're aiming for the Flower Fields on the fourth level!"

It was smooth sailing for the most part. We pushed off buildings and avoided being seen up high because people weren't really paying attention to the sky when there were people attacking them right before their eyes. There was small talk of what we would do, and what we could do to help. Bartolomeo seemed very happy to boast that he could do a lot to help - - that he would do anything to help Luffy-senpai - - and it was because of that that I didn't have to take my turn. Because up ahead, a man that looked very much like the man that had been present in that room earlier when I first met Diamante and Trebol, was halfway into the ground, almost like he was a part of the rock. Maybe he was a part of the rock...

And fighting him was Zoro.

And when we noticed him, he noticed us and was understandably confused. "What? How the hell are you guys flying?"

From beside me, Bartolomeo squealed. "Zoro-senpai! Can I have your autograph?!"

The rock man spotted us as well and zoned in on one person in particular. "Rebecca..."

I snorted and choked on a laugh, nearly letting go of the string in my hands before remembering that I needed to hold onto those. "What the hell is this guy's voice?"

"It's Pica!" Rebecca screamed out to us, and I tried to recall if I had ever heard his name before. "It's him, one of the top Executives!"

Robin adjusted her hold on the strings in her hands and called down to Zoro. "Stop the enemy for us! We have business at the place behind that statue!"

And as she spoke, the rock statue began to move around like it as living, and a sense of doom settled in my stomach as I realized that we probably wouldn't be able to make it past it. But, of course, this is Zoro we were talking about. The guy trained with Mihawk for two years, and he proved his skill when he cut through the rock statue like it was butter.

Sweat clung to every part of me, and my nerves were fried, but we were all relieved that we would make it now. Bartolomeo was sobbing for 'Zoro-senpai', and I was beginning to realize that his admiration went to every single Straw Hat, not just Luffy, and I thought that was pretty cool. And I thought it was cool that I got my own honorific.

Once past the statue, we would soon have to touch down again and push up. A snail began ringing, answered by Rebecca, and it was some Tontatta people, saying something about their princess not being in the Factory. After a moment, Viola came through the snail and said that she had found the princes, and she was being held in something called the punishment room, which brought some bad memories of my own.

Concrete walls, chains hanging from the ceiling and clasped to the walls, tables made of metal with straps for holding down the arms and legs and head. Medical instruments used for non-medical procedures most of the time. The acrid smell of death that clung, lingering from the more severe punishments to others. The cold floor. The days without proper food or water. The cramped conditions when we were all in trouble.

I kicked up when my foot touched down, brought from my thoughts of the past, shaking my head to clear it completely of that imagery.

We were in the skies above the third level, according to Robin and Rebecca, and we were about to get to where we needed to go in no time at all! And everything would be over soon, and we would all be okay and - -

"Birdy, watch out!"

Robin's warning didn't get through to Bartolomeo in time, and as I looked down, I saw numerous black objects swarming to us. He was hit directly and they exploded. I jerked myself to the left to avoid being hit by the blast, though I did sway from the wind. Down below was a man wearing goggle and nearly completely hidden from view due to his clothes. Robin began to fall as well, her beatles done for. I kicked my leg out for her to grab, but her fingers just barely skimmed over my ankle as she plummeted towards the ground, grabbing the man with her powers as she went.

"Rebecca! Mara!" Robin yelled to us, falling to the ground and ready to fight from the look in her eyes. "Make sure you bring the key to the Flower Fields! They need it! We'll be fine!"

"Robin!"

I brought Rebecca's attention from our falling comrades by shouting her voice. She looked to me fearfully and I grit my teeth. "They will be fine. Don't underestimate Robin, and that Rooster is pretty good too." We kicked off and continued up to the fourth level, avoiding fights as best as we could. "We have to worry about freeing Law. And then those idiots can save everyone, got it?"

She gave a nod and looked a little better. "Got it."

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**[A/N]: Yes, I know, it's another chapter of summary, but it's essential and I'm sorry. The next chapter will be less canon and not summary, so hopefully you guys will like that one better.**

**Review and favorite and follow and all that jazz. I'm glad that some of you liked how I wrote Usopp in the last chapter. I like him too :)**

**Love you and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXo**


	14. Broken Hearts

_** I HAVE A POLL UP ON MY PROFILE ASKING WHETHER OR NOT YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE A STORY FOR CHILD MARA. PLEASE VOTE.**_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**I caught up to the current place of the story. Hope you like this chapter, which is my solution to that problem~**

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**Chapter Fourteen**

Silence. Not that there wasn't noise. The occasional drip, the sound of the metal settling. Voices humming through the walls. The clatters of dishes and cursing. Booted footsteps moving along the metal halls. It wasn't silent, not, but these weren't the noises that they wanted to hear. They missed the sounds that rang out when they weren't down in the dumps. The sounds of their captain calling out for them to stop acting like children. The happy shout when he would emerge from his room after hiding in there for days, studying. And, for too long, those sounds had been missing from the walls of the yellow submarine.

And it was weighing on the spirits of the men left behind as the anniversary of their captain's departure loomed over them. Tensions ran high, and more than once, people snapped. It was hard, especially when they all missed the same person and hadn't heard anything for a long time regarding the person that they all cherished the most.

"_Captain, I think I speak for everyone when I say that this is probably the worst idea you've ever had. We can help you. We don't need to wait on the sidelines and hope and pray for you to make it out of there alive. You always try to do things on your own, but we can help, and you know it!"_

"_Don't hope or pray. Just stay here and wait for me to come back."_

"_What if you don't come back?! What will we do then, Captain?!"_

"_That won't happen. But, on the off chance that it does, you will all be dismissed from my crew and move on to do whatever you wish."_

It was a constant cloud that hung over the crew's heads. They were a group without a leader. And at lunch, the mood only worsened.

The table looked so empty. The captain's usual spot sitting as a reminder that there was a possibility that he wouldn't come back. The aura surrounding the chair was depressing enough to send the first mate to sit at another table, head bent over his food and his own aura just as depressing as he apologized needlessly to himself. He hadn't even realized when more people sat down around him and mimicked his position.

It took one more person coming to the table, one that was really more angry and annoyed than anything else, to break them out of the funk that they usually found themselves in.

"Hey, what's with this atmosphere? You're making my food taste gross." The heads of three men and once polar bear turned sluggishly to the voice of the fourth man, sitting in his seat and taking a bite from his food. The food wasn't as good as he remembered from the good old days, but that giant man in the kitchen was trying his hardest. "And word on our scouts?"

A collective sigh went through those at the table, and the brown haired man proposing the question knew the answer before it was uttered by the man beside him. "No word yet." A silence enveloped the table. Just as the brown haired man was going to bite into his food once more, his friend spoke out again. "Hey, Nate? You think he's gonna come back?"

It was a question that Nate, the aforementioned brown haired man, got often from not only this man, but the other men as well. Even the first mate, in moments of weakness late at night, would propose the question, in need of reassurance. And the responding, "Of course he will" was almost natural as of late. And no matter how quick he was with responding to whoever asked, the answer always had their shoulders sagging in relief.

But was Nate really sure that his captain would come back? He liked to think that he was, but in the back of his mind, he knew that there was that slim chance that… He often thought back to the night before his captain left and his pleading questions of what they would do if he didn't come back. Trying to go with him and offer assistance in the ways that they knew how. He wasn't sure what all his captain was doing out there at any given moment. All he knew was that it had something to do with Doflamingo, information that only few people were privy to. And, as Nate was one of his closest friends, he knew enough to think that maybe, _just maybe, _Law was going out on a suicide mission and hiding it from them all.

He never shared these thoughts with anyone. It would only scare them into running off this island and searching the New World for their captain. Instead, he bottled it up, just as he always did. He kept it to himself and mulled it over late at night when no one could see the faces that he made at the idiocy of his captain. It had become his job, in a sense, to be strong enough to carry everyone through the ordeals that they faced. Beside Law, he had become just as numb to the things that they saw and heard. He had changed, probably for the worst, depending on how one looked at it.

All because of that one idiotic woman.

"How long has it been since they left?" Nate spoke too suddenly, he realized after the words left his mouth and the others at the table looked at him with wide eyes. He couldn't help it, His mind had been going down a dangerous path again, and he needed to distract himself. To save himself from that blunder, he shook his head and frowned. "I feel like they're taking too long and we should go out after them."

It was Carlos, the only one who has been able to speak since coming down for lunch, that answered with a shrug. "They haven't been gone too long. Maybe three days?"

And he was right. This was the shortest amount of time that their two scouts had been gone, but with the anniversary of Law's departure weighing on his heart and mind, he was more on edge, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. And he tried to keep his anxieties hidden from the others, but they noticed, How could they not? With the whole crew docked at this island for as long as they've been, with probably many more months coming up, they noticed more than they would like to admit. Especially the look in his eyes on days like this.

"But," Carlos continued, scratching his scalp with cracking finger nails, some of the black hidden underneath from working with the engine sticking in that bright green hair. "I mean, they _have _been gone for a few days. I'll go give them a call." And he was up, moving to the navigation room with hands in the pockets of the boiler suit.

He hardly got three steps out of the galley before the Den-Den Mushi resting on the table where Nate sat began to ring. All eyes swept to the snail. No words were uttered. From inside the kitchen, Jean Bart stuck his head out and despite the ever-present scowl, the look of relief in his eyes was noticeable. Carlos popped back into the room, excitement causing his hands to shake in his pockets. There were only three people who should have the number to that snail; two being the scouts, but they never called, and the third being…

"Captain?" It was Bepo who grabbed the receiver into his paws, fumbling with it even as he shouted out. The tenseness of the room was heavy on everyone as the sounds on the other end of the line reached their ears. Sounds of a naval battle, if they ever heard one. The whistling of canons, the shouting and screams of unfamiliar voices. Something wasn't right. "Captain? Is that you?" Bepo tried once more to call out.

A shrill scream from the other end. Garbled shouting. The sound of the receiver on the other end falling and clattering to the ground.

Nate reached out and took the receiver from Bepo's paws, bringing it up to his face and shouting into it, his anger and worry and everything else boiling over all at once. It was obvious that this wasn't the scouts. It was obvious this wasn't his captain. So who the hell had this number? "Who is this?" He didn't receive an answer, but he did receive more screams from various different people. "Who the _fuck _is this? Answer me - -"

"_Oi shit head, don't yell at my precious Nami-swan like that!_" The next second, there was more scuffling on the other end. More shouts. A yell for a fallen comrade. Then the voice was back. "_You better listen to what she has to say!_"

Nate looked up to Bepo and everyone was understandably confused. The person on the other end sounded very much like Black Leg Sanji from the Straw Hat Crew., though they weren't sure at the moment. They were all trying to remember how his voice sounded two years ago at the Auction House. However, he had given a name. Nami. As in Cat Thief Nami. Definitely a member of the Straw Hats.

And when her voice rang out, there was a collective sweat drop among the group as they all remember perfectly how her voice sounded. Shrill, commanding, and _very _annoyed. And every Heart Pirate in the room was more than happy that her annoyance wasn't directed at them for the moment.

"_Brook, get up there and help Sanji! Stop trying to hide under the table! You're a pirate, so do something and act like one!_" There was a shout back that sounded very much like 'you're one to talk', but she was yelling over that person. "_Chopper, get Momo over here and uncuff Caesar! If he doesn't want to be handed over, he'll help out! Hello? Are you there? We're on our way to you, and we might be bringing some trouble._"

It took Nate a moment to figure out that, in the end, she was speaking to them. "You...how did you get this number? You're the Straw Hats, right?"

"_How do you think I got it? Tra-guy gave it to me._"

"...Tra-guy?"

"_We ran into some trouble with Big Mom, but we're on our way to Zo now. I don't know when we'll be there, but they'll probably still be chasing us..._" She trailed off, and everyone in the galley was still confused. What was their captain doing giving this number - - this very important number - - to a Straw Hat? "_Dammit!_" Cannons whistling and the sound of rocking and yelling from the other end. Before Nate could say anything to the others in the room, she was back and speaking frantically. "_I can't explain much now, but we're allies. Tra-guy said so, though he probably regrets it now. He's still back at Dressrosa, and we're on our way to Zo because he told us to come to you guys. Now, get ready._"

At the same time, off the coast of Zo, sailing as fast as possible, was a small boat carrying two men. Brothers. From a distance, the two looked completely at ease. It was nothing but a front that they put up so as not to draw too much attention to themselves from anyone who happened to see them. Upon closer inspection, both men were shaking with barely contained excitement, the younger of the two holding back tears with a large grin spreading over his face. The elder brother held a few newspapers in his hand, the newspapers from the past week that they had been sent to collect in order to stay up to date.

The newspaper on the top of the stack was gripped the tightest. Dated a week ago today.

When the two received that specific paper, there had been a moment of disbelief. How could she be alive? After hearing of what happened two years ago and getting the details from a distraught Carlos, the men truly believed she was dead. It was what made sense, really. And secretly, a part of both men didn't want the news to be true. It wasn't because they didn't miss the woman. They missed her everyday. They missed her when something happened that reminded them of her. They really wanted this to be a false announcement because it hurt too much. They had all gotten over her, and her death had changed all of them, some for the better, but most for the worst.

Especially the Captain and Nate, who had both become more cruel over the course of the two years. Cruel and indifferent and easily irritated when something went wrong.

So there was debate between the two brothers when the headline jumped out at them. Back from the dead? Impossible! And the fighting style didn't match up. Since when did she use swords instead of her Fruit powers? Also, she didn't kill so easily. They both remembered two years ago, that whole ordeal with that Raven guy. She had killed him and sulked for day afterward. So things weren't adding up.

But they couldn't deny the physical evidence that it _was _her. Though the photo accompanying the article was blurry and out of focus, it looked like her. And after examining the photo for almost an hour together, the brothers came to the conclusion that she was back. With the evidence and their gut feelings, nothing could change their minds.

Now it was the problem of how to break the news to everyone else, including their Captain when he came back.

And the had come, as the two walked through the hatch of the sub and wandered to the source of noise. The galley. The sounds of panic and confusion was something new to both men, and they found themselves speeding up to walk in on a very interesting scene.

It seems that while they were gone, the gloom that had hung over every head of the crew had dissipated. The panic and confusion was actually excitement and confusion.

"Killian! Tino! You're back!" Carlos ran towards both men and grinned. The sight had the brothers raising their eyebrows. Since when was everyone so happy? "We just heard that we'll probably get to see the Captain soon!"

Killian, the elder brother, dropped his jaw and completely forgot about the news he was going to have to break to the others. "Tell me everythin', mate."

Carlos explained the snail call with Nami and Sanji of the Straw Hats that came in on the special Den-Den Mushi. They would be bringing Big Mom with them probably, so everyone should be prepared. "So, as you can see, we're all pretty pumped." The green haired man flexed his arm muscles and grinned again. "So, what did you guys find?"

The feeling of dread spread over both brothers again, catching the attention of everyone in the room as they all paused to see what was wrong. Tino, the younger, glanced to Killian and sighed. "Might as well get it over with now."

Though Killian agreed, he didn't want to do it. And, when Nate stalked over and demanded the newspapers, the man pulled them behind his back with a shake of his head. This, to everyone else, was very odd. Killian and Tino never withheld information from them. In fact, every other time they came back, they had already finished getting up to date with the world and wanted nothing more than to get rid of the stack that they held.

So what was different this time around? What did they learn?

When Nate voice these questions with a hard voice, Tino flinched. The brothers looked between one another once again. Behind his back, Killian clutched harder at the papers in his hands. It was harder to speak than he had originally thought it would be. Even when he opened his mouth to speak up under the glare of Nate, the lump that had formed in his throat made it impossible to do so.

"Tell me what you learned." This time around, he didn't ask. Nate demanded answered, and the two men before him must have heard the change in his tone because they visibly cringed at what they would have to say. Nate, seeing these subtle movements, grit his teeth and clenched his hands into tight fists. "Is it something that happened to Law?"

Tino looked up and shook his head vehemently. "No no no, of course not!" Then he thought back and sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. "Well, he was in one of the papers. Something about an alliance with - -"

"The Straw Hats, yeah, we know." The younger man knew that they already knew of the alliance, but he was nervously trying to buy time. For what? He wasn't sure. It was nothing but a habit now. "But there was something else, right? Something bad?"

The silence of the room was near tangible. Killian clenched the papers in his hands while Tino reminded him that they might as well get it over with. It may have seemed overdramatic, how they were acting so secretive about the news, but it was justified. They were around during the aftermath of her death. All of them were. And all of them witnessed the breakdowns of the man standing before them now and demanding answers.

Nate clenched his jaw and started bringing his hands up. And to keep him from getting violent, something that none of them wanted from him anymore, Killian spoke quickly and in a whisper.

"She's alive."

The news didn't have an immediate response from the men in the galley, though the silence felt even heavier. It was Jean Bart, standing by the window connected to the kitchen, who spoke up in his brisk tone. "What're you talking about?"

Killian took a deep breath and brought the newspapers from behind his back, holding them out on display for everyone to see. The men leaned forward, peering at the headline and picture on the newspaper held in front. As they observed it, Tino spoke in a voice equally as quiet as the one his brother used. "It's Mara. She's alive."

An array of emotions swept through the men. Penguin and Shachi, after observing for a moment, were satisfied and began to cheer for the return of their friend. They danced around one another, shortly to be joined by Carlos. Bepo was happy, and grinning from a table, until he was knocked into by the dancing crew members and began to yell at them.

At the kitchen window, Jean Bart grunted, but his lips quirked up to the beginning of a smile. He wasn't sure that it was her, but he was glad that everyone was happy about something for once in a long time. Squirt shared Jean Bart's feelings, but he was a little more believing that it was her. He missed her, despite the times that he got a hairbrush in the eye when he went to get her from her room. Tino and Killian, though they wanted desperately to feel joy, were truly afraid at the moment.

Because as soon as they showed off the newspaper to the men in the room, Nate had begun to shake. The two of them were ready for a violent outburst, something they had become accustomed to when he would get this angry.

However, Nate wasn't angry. Well, there was a small amount of anger in the pit of his stomach. But that wasn't the dominant emotion that was causing his hands to shake at his sides and his nails to bit into the flesh of his palms. He felt, instead, an incredible sadness that he hadn't felt since that day on Horona. It pulled at his heart and made him feel nauseous. His throat constricted and his eyes felt warm. He knew that it was possible that this picture and article weren't even about Mara, but someone that the Marines had mistake for Mara. And that, believe it or not, made him feel even worse. Because he wanted her back _so damn bad. _He missed her with every fiber of his being. And if this article was getting his hopes up, he wouldn't be able to deal with it anymore.

To keep up that cold demeanor he had developed over the past two years, he snatched every paper from Killian's hands and stalked down to his room. Bepo wanted to shout after the man about how he was in charge and that he should know everything as well, but Tino shook his head.

"Just give him a minute, Bepo."

But Nate would need more than a minute. He stomped into his room and slammed the door, his eyes immediately going to the bed that she had once slept on. It had been made since the last time she used it, but everything was still there. Hew clothes, piled in drawers, hadn't been touched. That bag that held some of her mementos, like the torn piece of her prison uniform and her mini Den-Den Mushi, sat in the middle of her bed. The days after her death went around the world, the snail in that bag rang constantly.

Nate had first had to answer to her brother Portgas D. Ace, who demanded to know what happened through a teary voice. Soon after, the Pirate Empress herself called in because, after hearing the news, Monkey D. Luffy went on a rampage through the island he was on. It had taken hours, according to the woman, to calm him down. And there was also the Red Hair Pirates who called in, wondering whether or not it was true.

And now, after confirming her death to a handful of people that were close to her, a feeling of guilt slammed into his gut, and he found himself on his knees in the middle of the room, looking back and forth between her bed and the newspaper in his hand. Now, Nate doubted that she had died in that event, though there wasn't real hard evidence to prove that the woman in the photo was her. His thoughts whirled and he thought the same things that, unbeknownst to him, Tino and Killian had thought when they first saw it.

Everything didn't add up.

But, like them, he had that gut feeling. It felt right for her to be alive. Dead didn't look good on Mara, and he had known it this whole time. He had hoped that it was all wrong and she was still out there. And now he felt remorse and guilt, enough so that his breathing was ragged. She had been _alive _after the attack on that Marine ship she was on. She had probably been screaming out for them to help her. She had probably been hoping that they would save her from whatever was going to happen.

_But the just walked away. _Walked back to the sub and left, having thought that if the cannons didn't kill her, then the Sea Kings would. And if not the Sea Kings, then the ocean water that she was sure to drown in.

He wasn't aware that he was crying until the tears spilled onto the newspaper, distorting the ink and crinkling the paper where the drops fell. And no matter how much he wiped at his eyes, the tears continued to spill down his cheeks at an alarming rate. His bottom lip curled up and a pained sob left his throat. Eyes closing, the man curled in on himself on the floor, hand reached out to grab the edge of her bed and curl the blanket into his fist. Another sob, louder than the first, rang out in the room, and he couldn't stop them.

"You better come back, Freak." He spoke, hand tightening on the blanket and forehead pressed to the cold metal floor. His tears dripped to the floor with small _plips _in quick succession. "You better come home."

* * *

**[A/N]: So, I just thought that I should tell everyone that I am very sad right now because I am a failure. I passed my history class with a C (thank god) but I failed by Algebra class with a D. I tried, though, but I guess I didn't try hard enough because I failed. I guess it's okay, though. I don't want to burden ya'll with my problems.**

**About the story, I have been reading and watching One Piece and I gotta say, these recent chapters have me in my feelings to bad! I'm not sure if all of you reading are up to date bye OH MY GOD I HAVE CRIED MORE THAN ONCE! I don't want to put so much spoilers for people who haven't caught up, so I'll just leave it at that.**

_**(Cora-san I freaking love you!)**_

**Okay, I'm done. I don't know when I'll update again because I have so many ideas that I want to put in, but I have no idea what's gonna happen next with everyone. So, we'll all just have to patiently wait.**

**Review, favorite, follow, etc. I love you guys and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXo**


	15. The Flower Field

_**I HAVE A POLL UP ON MY PROFILE ASKING WHETHER OR NOT YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE A STORY FOR CHILD MARA. CHECK IT OUT AND PLEASE VOTE.**_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE**

**Special message at the end in the author's note about a certain fic that I promised in an author's not from Her Twisted Tale.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Rebecca."

She heard her name and reacted instantly, turning her fearful gaze back to me as I looked over my shoulder at the trembling girl. The taunting that turned her into this mess was ignored as we locked eyes. Her eyes shook with unshed tears. Her feet slid backwards against the dirt, ready to move away from the enemy before us. I clenched the sword that I had ripped from her back in my hands, turning to face forward once more and speaking as firmly as possible.

"_Run._"

And she did, needing no further words as the sound of her feet scampering away, falling to her knees more than once in her frenzied state. In front of me, the taunting words aimed at her only increased in harshness and volume. I clenched my jaw at the words he said, speaking ill of her mother directly to her face. I concluded in no time that this was the man that murdered her mother all those years ago, and her fear made sense.

It pissed me off, though.

Baring my teeth and bending my knees, I shouted up at the tall man, easily getting his attention, though he was very annoyed that I was interrupting his torturing of the poor girl running off through the field of flowers behind me. He bent forward at his waist and glared directly into my face. I returned the glare easily and sneered. "Leave her alone."

"Brave and stupid. You're full of surprises, aren't you, Devil?" Diamante reached for his sword and grinned widely. "If you want me to kill you first, I don't mind. Let's make it quick, though." And he struck out without warning, slicing through the air directly towards me. Luckily, I had the sword borrowed from Rebecca lifted to defend myself, fending off the attack that could have been deadly had it hit me as he planned.

As I blocked, I got a feel for the blade and remembered some key things about it. The main thing that concerned me was the dullness of the blade itself. Watching her fight earlier, the beginning at least, my attention was called to the fact that when she did strike people, it left no bloody damage. I was also unfamiliar with the weight and had to get a feel for it while fighting Diamante.

So, some of the odds were against me.

As I skid back against the force of his hit, Diamante wasted no time in rushing forward while I deflected the first attack. I grit my teeth and darted to my left, successfully ending my struggle with that first strike and catching his thrusting blade just in time to block it with the broad blade. The metallic noise brought a ringing to my ears as I went back again. He ran me backwards, moving quickly. My feet slid against the dirt. Flower stalks slammed into my back as I went.

I prepared myself mentally for all of a moment. And then, I moved.

Bending my knees more, still sliding against the ground, I leapt as high as I could. Diamante's eyes flicked wider for a fraction of a second, but I gave it no thought while tapping my foot to the side of his blade, kicking it to the side and sending the man off course. He veered to the right slightly, my small kick not doing as much as I had thought it would. His feet stumbled for a moment before righting himself, stopping completely and turning to me once more.

I landed on the ground with a soft _tap _and got back into a fighting stance, my knees bent and arms strong. Diamante was no longer amused. His jaw clenched visibly and his hands tightened on his sword. My lip quirked at the corner and I narrowed my eyes.

At that point, I realized that my mind had been moving on auto-pilot, and I was remembering the things that I had been taught years ago when Mihawk brought me under his wing. His stupid lessons were coming back in waves, filtering through my brain quickly.

"_The key to excellent swordsmanship is confidence, Mara." Dracule Mihawk stood before me on a beach at a small deserted island. His gaze was sharp, as usual, and his stance was, well, confident._

_I only rolled my eyes, stabbing the tip of my sword against the ground and leaning against the hilt, looking to him with a frown. It had only been a day since I was brutally beaten by X Drake in a sword fight, and already he had me out here, going over things that he had told me during the first training session. "You already told me that ages ago, ya know."_

"_Clearly you cannot listen to my words. Perhaps I am only wasting my time trying to train a pathetic excuse of a swordsman."_

"_Swords__**woman**__." I corrected with a small smile. He only glared harder, and I held up my hands in defense, keeping my elbow on the sword hilt. "Look, I'm trying, okay? It's just hard to stay confident in the heat of a real fight. With you, I just...well, I don't feel as 'in danger', ya know?"_

_And those words were the mistake, because he came at me, no longer as the man who taught me because he thought I was pathetic, but like he was the Worlds Greatest Swordsman and I was the person coming to take the title from him._

_He pinned me down with a sword to my throat in three seconds flat._

Those hard days of training came to mind, and everything that I learned was coming back easily. I had never forgotten, really. I just never really needed to remember Mihawk _actually _trying to _kill me _until now. And truthfully, in this moment, as I was preparing to block his next attack, I wanted nothing more than to see Mihawk again and thank him. It was something that I never did properly. I never touched my forehead to the ground and _thanked _him for teaching me what he could. For teaching me to defend myself with a blade, something that came in handy a lot recently. Here and now, I had a weapon. And there was no Doflamingo holding me back with strings. And there was no glass cage to trap me.

A tear pricked the corner of my eye when Diamante rushed forward again, and I scolded myself mentally. The middle of a battle was _not _the time to get emotional over someone like _Dracule Mihawk._

I readied to block the thrust once more, but this time, he attacked differently. And that moment when my eyes widened at this new development, Diamante looked absolutely pleased with himself.

His blade, a rapier now that I looked more closely, literally fluttered towards me like a snake. It wiggled and moved like no blade had ever moved before, coming mere inches from my head before I flattened myself to the ground, sweeping my own sword to hit his ankles. It didn't injure him much, as he didn't make any noise of pain, but he did stop moving to loom over me, bringing his rapier back and angling it towards me, lying flat on my stomach.

I kicked my legs around, moving on to my back, and stabbed my sword into the ground by my side, propelling myself up from the ground and turning while I slid against the ground to face him once more. Diamante, frustrated that I moved just in time to not be stabbed, reached back to his cape and gripped it in a tight fist.

My brain worked too slow sometimes, a problem that had reared its head on more than one occasion in the past year. Probably a side effect, or something. Anyway, it moved too slow at that moment, and I didn't even think that him swinging that fluttering cape towards me would hold any consequence. It was at the last minute, with the cape centimeters from my face, did I smell the steel coming from it, and I knew I was in trouble.

Pain blossomed from every inch of my body and I was sent back several hundred feet, sliding on my back through the thousands of flowers coming from the ground. My one arm had come up, seemingly with a mind of its own, to block my face from getting too much damage, while my other arm tensed at my side, hand clenching onto the sword. I would need it still. My legs flopped against the ground when I stopped moving. My arm, that had been pressing against my face, laid there motionless. I thought I heard something snap, but I prayed that it was just my imagination. My spine ached and the bruises that would no doubt blossom on my stomach, arms, back, and legs throbbed painfully.

My head swam and the ringing in my ears was so painful that I wouldn't be surprised if blood was coming from them. It wasn't bad enough, however, for me to miss the calling of my name from somewhere nearby.

_Rebecca._

I moved my arm from my face, lifting my head and seeing the girl running towards me with a tear stricken face. I desperately wanted those tears to only be from seeing me thrown like a ragdoll, but only a fool would miss Diamante moving leisurely behind her, calling out more taunts about killing her mother and how he would kill her as well. Apparently, he believed that I was down for the count.

As I rolled to my side, coughing up a copious amount of blood on my way, I heard that sound of a sword slicing through the air once more, following by a pained scream. I whipped my head back to see Rebecca flying at me with a bloodied back. Without thinking, I moved in her path and opened my arms wide, catching the girl in a move that sent both of us to the ground. We both groaned, though hers cut off in a sob.

Placing my hands on her shoulders, I pushed her gently off to the side. She landed in a heap, tears pooling in the dirt she laid on. I patted her head, knowing nothing else to do, and stood shakily to my feet. I staggered a few feet to the left, where the sword had fallen from my hand during my catching of Rebecca.

Diamante caught up to her fallen form, pistol in hand, and grin on his face. "I should finish you off with a gun." He stated, completely ignoring me as I walked towards Rebecca. "Because you know, Scarlett also died under the gun."

The girl trembled, shaking violently, and as he cocked the pistol and aimed it towards the girl, I stepped in his way and stood right in front of the girl, my free and bruised arm flung out, as if to defend her even more while my other arm lifted the sword and pointed it to him, shaking from the heavy weight in my hand. He only faltered for a moment, the gun lowering a fraction of an inch before that grin came back.

"Don't think I won't shoot the both of you, Devil!" And he lifted the gun slightly so that when he did fire, it would his the both of us with one bullet, going through my chest and in turn, hitting Rebecca in the ribcage. I didn't dare take my eyes off of him as I simply waited. He chuckled and tightened his finger slightly on the trigger. I didn't flinch, only narrowed my eyes. "You'll both die in the end anyway!"

I nodded along with him. In the end, we would die. But we weren't going to die today. Not Rebecca, at least. She didn't deserve to die so young. She needed to live on and grow old and gray. She was innocent in this, and deserved none of this.

I, on the other hand, was probably going to die. And that was okay.

"_You fear death, Mara." Dracule Mihawk lectured from the side of the hospital bed, a scowl on his face while I lazily looked up at him. The drugs that were being pumped into my system made me sluggish, but didn't take away my ability to sneer at the man. He only looked at me and raised a brow at my expression. "Do I lie?"_

_These drugs also, it seemed, loosened my lips, and I found it hard to lie to him, though he would have known I was lying anyway. He always knew. "I'ont really wanna say, buh yah, 'm pretty scared."_

_He made sense of my broken speech and frowned. "That's idiotic. You will die."_

"_Buh I'ont wanna!"_

_He sighed, seeing that in my state I was going to argue. And he gave me the best piece of advice that I would ever get. Well, maybe not **ever**_ _but it would come in handy in the future, though I didn't know it at the time._

"_Something will happen to you at some point in your life that will change your view. You will no longer fear death, but embrace it like an old friend." And he looked different when he said it, like he was speaking of his own old friend. But did Mihawk even have friends?_

Letting my bruised arm fall to the side and bending my knees, I spoke quickly to the girl behind me. "Stop crying, Rebecca." It came out harshly, more harsh than I intended, but it got her attention, so I kept the tone. "Stop crying and _run._"

I started forward quickly, feet skimming the ground while the pain throbbed in my legs as I made my way towards Diamante. He looked down at me, facial expression unchanging, and moved the barrel of the pistol to point directly at my head. I brought my other arm to hold the sword, the weight finally getting to me, and held it as best as I could. Pulling it back, hands gripping the hilt by my waist, I readied myself to do anything to stop him from killing us, even if it was just slowing him down for now.

_Where the hell was Luffy?!_

Behind me, the girl hadn't moved from her prone position on the ground, and I found myself unbelievably angry that she wasn't listening. If I hadn't been so close to Diamante at that moment, I would have turned to look over my shoulder and shout at the girl for being an idiot. But I couldn't and I prepared to strike out. Or get shot in the head. Whichever came first.

"_Soldier-san~!"_

Rebecca's scream seemed to set a lot of things in motion. Diamante laughed and pulled the trigger of his pistol at the same moment that I screamed out for her to just fucking _run. _I from ran and thrust the sword towards his legs while waiting for the searing pain and death that was to come from being shot.

It never came.

An arm went around my waist, and with my eyes open, I knew that this muscular arm didn't belong to the enemy. The wind was knocked out of me with the grip, and a course of fear ran through me as the bullet that would have hit me pelted into the dirt where I had been just a moment ago. The person holding me leapt up and sliced his own sword at Diamante's hand, knocking the pistol far away while he yelled out in pain.

"Kyros!"

Diamante's shout brought my attention to the man who had grabbed me and had landed easily to the ground, shouting back at the man who had been ready to kill us. "You think I'd let you take away two of my family members?!" As Diamante fell to his back against the flowers, I felt a shock go through my body. Did he mean that I was his...no...no he couldn't mean that. My dad was dead. I saw it myself. He was gone and there was no one else. So...oh. He meant Rebecca. And her mom.

I looked the man over from by his side. His arm was still around my waist, probably because he felt that I was wobbly and noticed that I was bruised _everywhere. _He also, surprisingly, had one leg. The other had been cut off mid-thigh. Interesting.

And he was speaking again, though this time, to Rebecca, who was a sobbing mess behind us. I looked over at her, my cheek brushing this man's arm, and frowned at the sight of the broken girl. "Forgive me, Rebecca! I was but a futureless toy. I...I could do little but teach you how to fight, despite the fact that your kind-hearted self so resembles your mother..." His face, as I looked back at him, hardened, jaw clenching, hand tightening on the hilt of his sword. He turned his body completely, bringing me with him, and faced his daughter for the first time, face showing nothing but that fatherly love that pulled at my heart strings more than I would like to admit. When was the last time I was given that fatherly look? When Pops saw me last during the War? "But today, no more. You no longer need to fight!"

Rebecca sobbed and nodded, choking out a 'yes' while bringing her hands up to cover her mouth and stifle the whimpers that were coming from her lips.

Diamante's voice rang out once more, mocking in a way, though also very angry. "And whatcha mean by that, Kyros?" He stood from the ground, dusting off his clothes and glaring in the direction of the one-legged man.

Kyros himself turned wildly back to the man, and I was nothing but a ragdoll pinned to his side while I was also turned to face Diamante. He immediately lost that fatherly look while he all but screamed back at the man with barely concealed rage. "I mean your lives will all be forfeit here and now!"

Another voice joined the mix as soon as Kyros finished speaking, shouting from behind us and sounding very familiar, bringing a smile to my lips. "Rebecca! The key!" I turned to look back again, Rebecca doing the same, while a group ran up a set up what looked like stairs. It took me a moment to realize that it was a group of giant toys, looking pretty scary, despite the fact that they were, well, _toys. _And they were chasing a misshapen form. A hunchback?

No. Oh no, that was most definitely _not _a hunchback. That wasn't even one person. That was none other than my little brother, Monkey D Luffy, running up while shouting about hurrying with the key, carrying the _oh so feared and deadly Trafalgar Law on his shoulder. _The older man was nothing but a potato sack at the moment, and my past with him was shoved to the back of my mind while I bit back a laugh, trapping my bottom lip between my teeth.

My laugh almost escaped, _almost_. But Rebecca uncuffed Law, who was placed on his feet before the girl, and the toys behind them were chopped into pieces. Diamante screamed in outrage at the two newcomers to our little party in the flower field. I was left staring at the backs of the two men that had come up the stairs, standing side-by-side behind Kyros and I.

Seeing them up close, my heart pounded. They had changed a lot. Both of them. They both gained more muscle mass. Both had gotten taller. Wardrobes had been changed. I wanted to run to my little brother, grab his stupid rubber cheeks, kiss his stupid forehead, and hug him until my arms hurt and my cheeks were sore from smiling. I wanted to talk to him about nothing and everything. I wanted to catch up. I wanted to know if he was as pissed off at Sabo as I was. What was his reaction to seeing Sabo again? Did he cry? I swear to God, if Sabo made him cry…

"My apologies, you two." Kyros broke off my thought, which was probably a good thing, and he loosened his grip on my waist, readying his sword in both hands once I was released and simply standing by his side, body facing him while my head was turned to Luffy and Law. "It seems I've got my hands full with this guy. Can I leave Doflamingo to you to?"

The two wasted no time answering at the same time with the same words, leading me to wonder just how long they had been around each other. "Hell yeah!"

In no time at all, it was decided between the three of them that Law and Luffy would head to the palace to fight Doflamingo while Kyros would stay here and fight Diamante. As they spoke up, I moved to Rebecca, who looked baffled at the plan of attack, and knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking at her back, lifting her cape to see the injury. It wasn't bad, definitely not as bad as I thought it would be.

She looked to me and frowned. "I'm fine, Mar - -"

A laugh belonging to a certain rubber idiot cut her off, and I peered over my shoulder to see that Luffy had come up and knelt in front of her, a grin ever-present on his face. My heart went to my throat at the sight of his healed up X-shaped scar up close. It was big. The pink color made me cringe. Puckered skin. It made me queasy.

But his face is what I focused on more. And he looked incredibly happy for someone who was about to go fight off Donquixote Doflamingo. "Rebecca! Isn't it awesome that you got to meet your dad?"

Rebecca spoke up with a very confident and loud "Yes!" from beside me.

Luffy turned to me and his smile dropped for a moment before coming back even bigger. He leaned forward, placing his hand on top of my head and pressing his forehead to mine. "I'll see you later, Mara." And he was standing up. Not the emotional reunion that I was expecting, but it was something. There was a look in his eyes when he pulled back that made his statement like an order, almost. Like I had no choice but to see him later.

And I was okay with that. I nodded and smiled, lifting my less injured arm to give the boy a salute while he moved up and ran after Law, who was moving away. "Thanks for the key!" He called over his shoulder. "I'm off now! Be back soon!"

"Hey Lucy!" Rebecca called out, hands on her knees and leaning forward anxiously. "Will you really defeat that Doflamingo for us?"

He stopped and placed his hand on top of his hat. "I ain't Lucy." He turned and gave that fierce, determined look that always accompanied that one promise that he made a long time ago. "The name's Luffy! I'm the guy that's gonna become the Pirate King! So don't worry!"

Luffy turned back and followed after Law, and I found my eyes drawn to the retreating back of the older man, no matter how hard I tried not to look at him. It hurt too much. I hadn't seen him in so long, and now that I was looking at him, I was realizing that he had been no more than five feet from me. _No more than five fucking feet. _And he didn't even turn to look at me. He didn't give a glance from the corner of his eye over his shoulder. Nothing. And it hurt. A lot. It would have been worse if not even Luffy had come to see me, so the sting wasn't the worst, but it was there. And it sucked. And it made me want to scream in frustration. Why was he just walking away? He wasn't even going to say my name? He wasn't going to mention the fact that I was alive after everything that happened two years ago?

Look at me! Please just turn and look at me! I'll give anything, Law, just please turn and at least acknowledge that I'm _here! _Please!

Diamante screamed out and sent an attack at Law and Luffy. I watched with wide eyes as Law turned to face the fluttering sword coming his way. His eyes were trained on Diamante, not even giving a flicker in my direction, and then they were gone. The fluttering sword hit nothing and Diamante screamed out in anger.

Kyros took the moment before his fight to turn and look over his shoulder. I tore my gaze from Diamante, ignoring the shattering of my heart, and met his eyes. "Young lady, you were the prize for the Colosseum, correct?" I gave a short nod and felt Rebecca stiffen. "My daughter wished to win you in order to ask for your help in defeating Doflamingo."

I looked to the pink haired girl, looking guilty beyond belief, and I shook my head. "That's a stupid plan."

"Indeed." Kyros agreed, and when I looked back to him, he was facing Diamante, who was still screaming angrily at the place where Law and Luffy had been. His sword was at the ready, and I felt my skin was going to be a serious fight, with the history between the two combatants. "I thank you for keeping her safe with your life. And now, I am going to ask that you keep her safe. Just a little while longer."

He didn't wait for an answer before going at Diamante, their swords clashing loudly. Rebecca stiffened and couldn't tear her gaze away from her father and the killer of her mother. I placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling as I leaned my head forward and looked at her injury again. "Of course I'll keep her safe." I had been doing it anyway, hadn't I?

* * *

**[A/N]: And you get more of a glimpse of the new Mara. Clearly some things have changed in the past two years, and these things will slowly be revealed through the story, more so after everyone gets back together. I have plans ;)**

**I hope you guys liked the chapter as much as I did. I literally pumped this out in one go at 4 in the morning because it all just came to me and I couldn't stop writing until it was done. My mom just walked in and asked me why I was still awake. Now I must lie and say that I just woke up. Good lord...**

**AND HEY! DO YOU REMEMBER THAT KIDD X OC FIC THAT I TALKED ABOUT CENTURIES AGO? It was going to be published as nothing but a pure smut based one-shot (because I do what I want) but then I got to being creative and ridiculous about everything and it's now turning into a full fledged fic that will probably be as big, if not bigger than this series (again, because I do what I want). It's in the works now, and I'm trying to hash out the details as best as I can before even thinking about publishing. So, it'll probably be a while before the first chapter even comes out. Maybe next year? Idk, but I'll let you all know what's up with that when I can.**

**And again, there's a poll on my profile, so go and vote please?**

**Anyway, please review, favorite, follow and all that jazz. I'll update as soon as I can. Love you all and see you soon~**

**XoXoXoXo**


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